[2015 RWC] Final: New Zealand vs. Australia (31/10/2015)

[Dirty Ape]

The backrows

So much talk in the week about the backrow match-ups with most of the UK media saying that Australia had the best backrow in the world. The thing is that the selection of both Pocock and Hooper is a trade-off with the result being a weakened lineout, and to a lesser degree, a weakened scrum.

NZ were more than competitive at the breakdowns and completely dominated both the lineouts and the restarts. So will there be a recognition that the All Black backrow is clearly superior? They cover all of the strengths necessary without any obvious weakness. And keep in mind that, as strong as he was in some areas, Keiran Read never got close to his best form in this tournament.

Pocock is probably the best 7 around but for Australia to consistenly compete with the All Blacks they will need to find more set-piece power from their backrow, in particular in the lineouts.

 

[Larksea]

was a good game overall, I think my predictions mostly came true for this game. I said for a long time Carter had been saving himself for when he was really needed and I also said Nonu would be a key player going into a finals game against Australia.

Ive also been saying that I think our wings are our biggest weakness going into finals games. As good as Skudder & Savea can be on attack they have deficiencies to their defensive game and that was probably the area both Australia and south africa took advantage of to put the AB's under pressure these last two weeks. With Ben Smith of the field we REALLY struggled, we probably would have been ok losing any other player for 10min. But losing Ben Smith left a hole Skudder & Savea simply cannot fill. And that baught Australia back into the game.

Dan Carters play over the last 3 games cements him as the best 10 ever to play the game. IMO even before this WC he would still be the best ever but The only thing he hadn't done is perform at a world cup and he did more than that. He absolutely blew the top off it. All that while being the target of late and high shots from the Aussies. Most of his kicks at goal were actually tricky ones, superb game 10/10 IMO

Generally I thought the AB's dominated the first 40 but should have held the ball longer early in the game and that's why the didn't get more points as reward for that dominance. Again I question the decision making a bit. I think it was the AB's gameplan to play the way they did but the senior players should have seen that they were stronger than expected in those early exchanges and made the call to hold the ball for longer.

Was only really being a man down when Aussie looked to come back.

I thought the indecent itself was a penalty and didn't deserve a yellow card. Ben lifted a leg and that was all, it was actually and Aussie player bound to the tackled players upper body pulling him down that made it look worse that it was. Owens initially made the right call but somehow through miscommunication owens felt pressure to do more.

All our players deserve praise but clearly our best were

Carter
Ben Smith
Nonu
Sam Whitelock

Then supported by others who played really well
Coles
Aaron Smith
Retalick
McCaw
Kaino
Read
Conrad Smith
Skudder

SBW & Barrett were absolutely superb from the bench. Both have been just as important if not more important than anyone in the starting 15 for this tournament. In particular the element of Barrett from the bench has been a huge aspect of why this AB team has been so good since 2011. SBW's constant haters should be cowering in shame by now, he's had a massive World Cup.

Mealamu was great of the bench again as well.

The WC monkey is well and truly off the back now. Up to the rest of the world to figure out how to take this black machine down.

We may have a lot of true greats retiring but we have a next wave of guys who are young, talented and experienced to come in. I'm Looking forward to next year

 

[nzlizard]

To be honest, I think that's a little bit of a sign of how weak we are to become.. Sam Cane ain't ready.. and if I'm going to be honest, I don't think he ever will be.

Last year and year before Cane's stats have been better than McCaws from what U remember.

I don't get the anti-Cane sentiment. Sure, he ain't McCaw, and never has come close to being that. Btw, isn't he like 23? He's probably more of a quiet work horse than that, but he definitely works. To me he's a bit better in the tight player and would probably be more well grounded than a guy like Ardie Savea. He tackles his guts out and that's backed up by the stats. He made a few fumbles last time which could have cost us the game, but it's not as if that's typical of the way he usually plays. I think we might be panicking again when we don't really need to.

No one is McCaw, we all have to remember that.

If Cane was any good he would of got Mccaws spot he hasnt and I reckon another 7 will turn up in the next couple of years. Cain might get the first look in but im almost certain he's not going to hold that position for more than a couple of years.

On paper he deserved it last year, but they stuck with McCaw, to be honest no other 7 in the world would have knocked McCaw out of this spot and rightly so.

Yeah I know you like Todd, and I agree on him. He has the make for international rugby imo. But nobody was going to push McCaw out of the team while he was around though. McCaw's form since the last WC hasn't always been ground breaking (i.e: ball handling skills), but his leadership, experience and intelligence is immense. And...well...he's a legend. To me, it seems like Cane has always been the understudy once he leaves. Hard to see the coaches abandoning that. At least right away. It'll be interesting though. We've definitely got a few guys to choose there.

Yup, Cane will slip into starting spot and other will have the chance to contest.

- - - Updated - - -

The WC monkey is well and truly off the back now. Up to the rest of the world to figure out how to take this black machine down.

Given next year will be a large rebuilding year I expect hard fought close tests and a couple of defeats while we find those players who will fill the gaps, the midfield especially.

 

[Jaguares]

Maybe the Wallabies can try and get Hayne on board?

He doesn't like rugby

 

[Kiwi_]

Last year and year before Cane's stats have been better than McCaws from what U remember.

Yeah, but McCaw brings unparalleled leadership, he's unwavered by any decision in the game, if Hansen felt Cane possessed these attributes, he would have asked Richie to step down after the RWC I reckon.

 

[Boomslangnz]

Foley winning the number 10 battle.

hahaha how wrong you were

AB's were very dominant this game for 70 mins, Wallabies did well when NZ were a man down but they won this pretty easy really. World Champions again! woohoo

 

[KeyboardWorrier]

Foley, fooley olay olay olay, Foley, foooleey

 

[User1245]

Well done New Zealand. They'll be worthy world champs after the WC unlike most teams who go to crap after it. Excluding the 1999 Aussie WC team.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

At first glance the referee seemed to be favouring us, especially in the first half. I have watched the match again and noted all of the questionable decisions:

1:57
A.Smith fires the ball at Whitelock who is not expecting it. Possible knock-on not called. May not have touched hand, may not have gone forward. Ref in better position to make call than the camera angle.
2:04
AAC in from the side? Not called. Followed immediately by Genia knock-on.
14:36
Savea break down left wing, caught by Pocock, then what looked like a fair turnover by Pocock/Hooper. 2 phases later McCaw strips ball from Fardy. Ref blows for knock-on by Savea. What knock-on?
18:05
Quick tap penalty by A.Smith, penalty against NZ for holding on as Pocock gets hands on ball. Pocock in from the side?
20:10
Sio late tackle on Carter. Discussion over whether penalty or not. Penalty awarded.
24:54
High tackle from Sio on Carter (forearm to chin). Penalty.
33:43
Milner-Skudder forward pass to Kaino not called. At next phase Genia is penalised for offside.
36:40
NZ lose ball in midfield. Ball bounces around off both black and yellow but no clear knock-on. Nothing called.
37:52
Possible accidental offside when Nonu runs into Carter. No advantage gained and nothing called.
44:27
Mitchell takes high ball and then SBW slaps ball out of his hand. Ruled knock-on against yellow.
46:09
Possible accidental offside when Milner-Skudder runs into McCaw. No advantage gained, nothing called.
48:02
Mitchell takes it in, McCaw turns it over. Pocock gets hands near ball before McCaw can push ball back. Ref points at Pocock and says "let it go now". Pocock keeps hands on ball and eventually Aus get the scrum.
51:42
Ben Smith yellow card. Definitely lifts well above horizontal but eases him to ground. Discussion with TMO about whether to make it penalty or yellow before giving yellow.
56.05
High tackle from Kaino on Pocock. Asks TMO repeatedly to look at it during live play. Calls advantage over 2 phases later 10m up field with yellow still in possession.
72:35
Scrum penalty to NZ. "Onto your knees yellow"


The forward pass in the 34th minute was clearly a mistake by the officials. The offside by Genia was not necessarily a direct result of the missed forward pass though. What happened after the kickoff is completely irrelevant.

The missed high tackle in the 57th minute did disadvantage Australia. Owens was clearly looking for assistance from the TMO here and got none. Advantage should have been continued longer than the 2 phases and 10m. Recall that Aus were the next team to score though so how much this affected the match is debateable.

The other "questionable" decisions (most of them were probably correct decisions, or marginal at worst) were fairly evenly spread.

So at 2nd viewing, the refereeing wasn't as bad as I first thought.

Nice post. Thanks for sharing.
I agree with pretty much everything (that i can remember, haven't watched the replay yet) except the 36:40 comment.

 

[Kiwi_]

Is there really room for sour grapes here? We got a few calls our way, but so did Australia. We were clearly the better team..

 

[nzlizard]

Yeah, but McCaw brings unparalleled leadership, he's unwavered by any decision in the game, if Hansen felt Cane possessed these attributes, he would have asked Richie to step down after the RWC I reckon.

I am not disputing that McCaw was the man for the world cup, but people seem to be quick to forget how good Cane has actually been in the last 2 years.

 

[Kiwi_]

I am not disputing that McCaw was the man for the world cup, but people seem to be quick to forget how good Cane has actually been in the last 2 years.

Not forgetting mate, he's a quality player no doubt, but I just feel he lacks a little to completely take over the mantle just at this moment, but I get the feeling by his personality, that he might not arrive there. Nothing personal mate, just a feeling, I could be wrong, I have been a lot before

 

[ABs2011]

By the way, just out of interest more than anything, but I'm watching the game again and wondered if anyone else saw the pretty massive swining arm from Kepu (from behind) on McCaw after he passes to NMS for the first try? It only clips McCaw but given it was his third foul play in the space of about 15 minutes he was damn lucky it (1) didnt connect fully and (2) didnt get picked up by the TMO.

No biggie, but saw it and thought I'd post about it!

 

[Gavin]

Now, back to the rugby.

Well it didn't work out that way. Pocock was largely anonymous in this match; he didn't win a single turnover, and was not able to effectively slow down NZ ball at tackle. This was achieved by emplying the same tactics that they used successfully in the 2011 semi-final against Australia. When in possesion, they made sure, where possible that they went the other way to where Pocock was, and where not possible, cleaners were following the ball closely ready to clean him out the moment the tackler was taken to ground. They made sure that when they were tackled by him, they went to ground past him (or a cleaner would make sure he pushed the ball carrier past him) before Pocock had a chance to go to ground himself, making him a tackle assist and not a tackler, and thereby forcing him to go through the gate. When not in possession, they made sure a cleaner was ready whenever Pocock looked like he might be ready to join.

I personally thought Pocock got a few turnovers during the match. He played well but unfortunately the All Black's were too good

 

[General Tah]

Well congrats to the all blacks fans.
Out played.

 

[BakkiesBokke]

Well done NZ! Epic team and worthy winners.

Let's hope SA can grow a nucleus going forward with Jager, Etzebeth, Pollard, Kriel, de Allende etc so that we can hopefully start matching the ABs more often!

 

[austingtir]

I am not disputing that McCaw was the man for the world cup, but people seem to be quick to forget how good Cane has actually been in the last 2 years.

What about Todd? When England were down here a couple years back Todd was the only thing that saved Canterbury from complete and utter embarrassment.

I cant remember Cane ever being as dominant as Todd has been in some games.

 

[RoosTah]

Still pretty bummed out by this result... was impressed with how our boys rallied in the second half, but the game ultimately just showed we aren't the complete package yet. Still really proud of the boys and hopeful the future will be bright under this new set up.

On the upside, I'll likely be a lot more productive in the office without world cup news constantly distracting me lol

 

[austingtir]

By the way, just out of interest more than anything, but I'm watching the game again and wondered if anyone else saw the pretty massive swining arm from Kepu (from behind) on McCaw after he passes to NMS for the first try? It only clips McCaw but given it was his third foul play in the space of about 15 minutes he was damn lucky it (1) didnt connect fully and (2) didnt get picked up by the TMO.

No biggie, but saw it and thought I'd post about it!

If Ben Smith hadnt been yellowed I wouldnt gripe but he was so its all on, Kepu clearly deserved a yellow in that first half.

 

[donmcdazzle]

What about Todd? When England were down here a couple years back Todd was the only thing that saved Canterbury from complete and utter embarrassment.

I cant remember Cane ever being as dominant as Todd has been in some games.

todd is a journeyman super player mate he isn't AB material. Not dynamic enough in anything he does. Like a loose forward Colin Slade. He's too old now anyway Cane is better and is much younger. Ardie Savea will be the one challenging Cane not Todd.