All Blacks V Wallabies, Hong Kong, October 30th

[TRF_Olyy]

also, Nonus terrible missed tackle on AAC led to his try,
It's all swings and roundabouts, people make mistakes, you can't blame a whole match on one thing which happened in the last 2minutes.

 

[nickdnz]

also, Nonus terrible missed tackle on AAC led to his try,
It's all swings and roundabouts, people make mistakes, you can't blame a whole match on one thing which happened in the last 2minutes.

Well, I don't know if I agree with that, to be honest. If you are up 6 points, with 20-30 seconds left on the clock, and you kick it back to a very potent backline, then you did really cost the game. When you make more mistakes than positive contributions, than you really shouldn't be playing for the AB's. The whole "he's only human" approach, really is invalid considering his career for the ABs. It's not a one-off that people are annoyed about, it's just that he constantly screws up, and with 20 minutes left on the clock, 12 points up, with momentum to the All Blacks, there wasn't a single individual in the pub that I was in, that knew Donald would screw it all up.

 

[SpanishBob]

Too symplistic to blame Donald for the defeat.

He made a couple of silly mistakes, no doubt, but from the moment he substituted Carter NZ didn't have the ball enough to judge his performance so severely, in my opinion.
He missed an easy penalty? Yes, Carter too.

Great game of rugby, that's what matters, at least what matters to me.

What I don't understand is why Henry called Toeava, far from his best condition, with options such as Gear or SBW. Bad game for him, no doubt, blame on Henry.

The best All Blacks to me: Mealamu, Kaino, Read and Nonu.

Great performance of almost all the aussies. I hope from now on O'Connor will be the first goal kicking option for the Wallabies.

In my opinion with the World Cup so close losing from time to time is not bad at all. What is clear is that the Wallabies are serious contenders for the world ***le.

PD: The big mistake in AAC great try comes from Jane not from Nonu if I'm not wrong.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Just watched a clip, it was Nonus missed tackle that allowed AAC through (AAC ran basically at Nonu, Nonu looked like he went to make the tackle, but then decided against it and let him through) - there was another missed tackle as well (possibly Cory Jane) inside the ABs 22 as well, but it was Nonu that allowed him through

40seconds in:

 

[Shaggy]

Maggie Gyllenhaal in the u20s looked very good at the world cup, but obviously that's all I've seen of him. What do Kiwis think of his prospects?
Also, I love Stephen Donald - just because of what he does at the Chiefs. At that level he is class.
Not so much when he's in all black though...

Ahh ... hichim ... Tyler Blyendaal?

... he's another great prospect, but we haven't seen him in the ITM cup because he's from Canterbury, and there's so many no 10s in front of him. he might get a run for one of the super franchises next year though, and could be a prospect for higher honours post World Cup.

... With regard to the match, it's obviously a confidence boosting win arm for the Wallabies ... let's see if they can now string a few wins together (something they haven't been able to do). They will need to sort their scrum out, or they probably won't achieve an undefeated tour.

From the AB's perspective, it is what it is ... a loss ... the sky hasn't fallen in ... all of the players that are on tour will get opportunities to improve/redeem themselves

 

[smartcooky]

Maggie Gyllenhaal in the u20s looked very good at the world cup, but obviously that's all I've seen of him. What do Kiwis think of his prospects?

Maggie Gyllenhaal is an actress!!

Also, I love Stephen Donald - just because of what he does at the Chiefs. At that level he is class.
Not so much when he's in all black though...

Couldn't agree more.

Boy, Stephen Donald has really been copping it on RadioSport this morning.

 

[Shaggy]

Maggie Gyllenhaal is an actress!!



Couldn't agree more.

Boy, Stephen Donald has really been copping it on RadioSport this morning.

Fair to say he's not on Stu Wilson's Christmas card list anymore

 

[smartcooky]

Fair to say he's not on Stu Wilson's Christmas card list anymore

Yep. This morning he was making the same points I have been making. If you can't kick the ball out when it needs to go out in the last seconds of a match, what are you doing wearing the All Blacks' 10 Jersey?

 

[Amobokoboko]

Only saw the highlights of the game as I was abroad but I think I can say the bets team won.
Really good AUs, they performed really well in the Tri Nations and I think this team has a lot of potential for the RWC.

 

[cyRil]

Yep. This morning he was making the same points I have been making. If you can't kick the ball out when it needs to go out in the last seconds of a match, what are you doing wearing the All Blacks' 10 Jersey?

To be fair to the lad he was wearing 21.
Oh and I know Maggie Gyllenhaal is an actress

 

[Darwin]

Maggie Gyllenhaal in the u20s looked very good at the world cup, but obviously that's all I've seen of him. What do Kiwis think of his prospects?
Also, I love Stephen Donald - just because of what he does at the Chiefs. At that level he is class.
Not so much when he's in all black though...

As Shaggy mentioned, Tyler Blyendaal is a great prospect. He is a really good kicker, both from hand and at goal, and he does have an excellent running game as well. In my opinion his style of play is actually more suited to test rugby than Aaron Cruden's. He signed for the Crusaders next season (despite not playing any ITM Cup rugby) - I think they will manage how much Super rugby he plays next year carefully. I'm always a bit cautious about calling young players like this future stars - for example, Daniel Kirkpatrick was the named player of the Under 20 tournament three years ago, but has since faded to almost obscurity. Personally I don't think Blyendaal will go that way, but I did think Kirkpatrick was going to be a pretty good player as well...

 

[SelimNiai]

To be fair to the lad he was wearing 21.
Oh and I know Maggie Gyllenhaal is an actress

Nope, she's Jake in a wig.

 

[durbutter]

Nope, she's Jake in a wig.

I think she's hot.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Not that keen ....

 

[smartcooky]

Not that keen ....

You are kidding right?

If I was 25 years younger!!!

 

[dullonien]

Got around to watching this game earlier. Bit of an odd one in some ways as both defenses were quite poor on occasion with way more missed takles than I'm used to seeing from either team.

The scrum was a complete mess, both teams getting pinged for early engagements throughout the game. How has the scrum been reffed in the SH lately, as in the NH we've been used to the rediculously slow scrum engagements by refs. I have no idea how it improves things mind.

Gotta say that the NZ backrow were awesome in this game, some of the carrying by Read was immense.

Great attacking rugby really was a pleasure to watch from both teams. Well done Aus for winning. However I can't see Aus winning many more against NZ unless they can sort their kicking out. It was appalling, so many points left on the field. They should be a little worried coming up North with a lack of a decent kicker. Iif they come up agains a team like England in the wet, missing anywhere neer the amount they did yesterday will probably result in a loss!

Looking forward to next week now, should be good.

 

[SelimNiai]

You are kidding right?

If I was 25 years younger!!!

she looks better in the previous pic tbh

 

[smartcooky]

she looks better in the previous pic tbh

I guess I like the 1960's look of the hairstyle, but then, who's looking at the hairstyle?

The scrum was a complete mess, both teams getting pinged for early engagements throughout the game. How has the scrum been reffed in the SH lately, as in the NH we've been used to the rediculously slow scrum engagements by refs. I have no idea how it improves things mind..

IMO, the slow engagement is a big contributing factor in the mess at scrum-time. This is not Rolland's fault, its IRB policy, made up by some dumb-fvck who has never packed in the front row of a scrum in his life.

I have never been a fan of the four-step engagement sequence. Why on earth is there a pause, before you say pause, and another pause after you say pause?

effectively, what they are doing is

"CROUCH" -- pause -- "TOUCH" -- pause -- "PAUSE" -- pause -- "ENGAGE"

What they should be doing is have the -- pause -- as an unspoken action between the TOUCH and the ENGAGE. so

"CROUCH" -- pause -- "TOUCH" -- pause -- "ENGAGE" ("engage being a two syllable word, the "en" becomes the warning and the front rows come together on the "gage")

This makes much more sense to me than the shamozzle we have at the moment

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I guess I like the 1960's look of the hairstyle, but then, who's looking at the hairstyle?

IMO, the slow engagement is a big contributing factor in the mess at scrum-time. This is not Rolland's fault, its IRB policy, made up by some dumb-fvck who has never packed in the front row of a scrum in his life.

I have never been a fan of the four-step engagement sequence. Why on earth is there a pause, before you say pause, and another pause after you say pause?

effectively, what they are doing is

"CROUCH" -- pause -- "TOUCH" -- pause -- "PAUSE" -- pause -- "ENGAGE"

What they should be doing is have the -- pause -- as an unspoken action between the TOUCH and the ENGAGE. so

"CROUCH" -- pause -- "TOUCH" -- pause -- "ENGAGE" ("engage being a two syllable word, the "en" becomes the warning and the front rows come together on the "gage")

This makes much more sense to me than the shamozzle we have at the moment

Disagree to be honest with the three stage process.

Slowing it down is in the best interest of the game, for safety fears, however slowing it down to much causes problems.

Rolland got it wrong yesterday, it was to slow and lead to too many penalties / free kicks. The pack was ready, he could see that and slowed it down to much. Dave Pearson in the Ospreys game last night got the pace right and so did Wayne Barnes in the game on SKY. Again its something the IRB needs to look at, to slow causes infringements and to fast causes injury.

 

[Shaggy]

I guess I like the 1960's look of the hairstyle, but then, who's looking at the hairstyle?

She looks pretty good in both pics to me ... but what's she like on defense, and can she kick?

IMO, the slow engagement is a big contributing factor in the mess at scrum-time. This is not Rolland's fault, its IRB policy, made up by some dumb-fvck who has never packed in the front row of a scrum in his life.

I have never been a fan of the four-step engagement sequence. Why on earth is there a pause, before you say pause, and another pause after you say pause?

effectively, what they are doing is

"CROUCH" -- pause -- "TOUCH" -- pause -- "PAUSE" -- pause -- "ENGAGE"

What they should be doing is have the -- pause -- as an unspoken action between the TOUCH and the ENGAGE. so

"CROUCH" -- pause -- "TOUCH" -- pause -- "ENGAGE" ("engage being a two syllable word, the "en" becomes the warning and the front rows come together on the "gage")

This makes much more sense to me than the shamozzle we have at the moment

You're probably right, but I guess just so long as all of the refs are consistent leading up to and during the World Cup, all of the front rowers should be able to cope.

Just to add more fuel to the Stephen Donald issue ... ex-All black selector Peter Thorburn reluctantly said (on NZ's radio sport) that while Donald is a great player at super rugby level, but isn't up to test level