bertiec
Academy Player
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- Jun 15, 2012
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Can England bring in goode? I just want to see if he would survive the bender if England won the WC
Can England bring in goode? I just want to see if he would survive the bender if England won the WC
They did, but I'd argue England were that good and that's my point...
How many times today did the itv commentator say this proved that NZ are human after all, one thing being respectful of the opposition another being in awe of the opposition.
View attachment 7757 I predicted last year a NZ v SA final and had a bet with someone on this forum who said it wouldn't be. The loser donating a tenner to their chosen charity. Happy to say I was wrong and just made good the bet and donated £20 to the wonderful MacMillan Cancer support, plus gift aid of £5.
He was battered fairly early on. Apart from his 'try' Youngs was dreadful.
Did they honestly? Yes they were beaten, but they weren't terrible by any means. Broke the gainline quite a few times. However England gave them nothing and didn't panic once. Yes they made more mistakes as the game wore on, but that was purely the pressure England put them under. I think playing like they did they still would have beaten anyone else last weekend except England and possibly S.A. For me an off day is where you play badly or make mistakes without the pressure. This was all down to English pressure.
Having watched every game of the All Blacks the last decade and got to know them as well as any non NZ person ever could I am of the opinion that three things caused their demise today:
1- they were not allowed to be disruptive, their clever off the ball tactics were picked up and blown - dirty uncle Sam and his knack of pulling and pushing players off play; tackling people of the ball, side entries, offside line etc.
2- their inability to handle brutally honest in your face defense and a **** load of continuous pressure.
3- coaching staff losing the plot in the last 6 months - yes leaving one of the most destructive runners in Laumape at home, carrying semi injured players & over the hill ones based on past legacies and playing a past world rugby player of the year out of position - they created their own downfall.
England did the basics well, very well and thoroughly deserves this final, whether they have the mental aptitude to have two fabulous performances in a row remains to be seen
NZ's gameplan to kick everything was insane
It's like they watched the Wallabies game and thought "Well they tried to run everything and got battered so we'll do the opposite"
Like who the hell box kicks on the opposition's 22m without penalty advantage?
I know Daly isn't the best in the air but May is very good and Watson is world class - did they really think we'd be that bad that it was an easy possession win?
NZ's gameplan to kick everything was insane
It's like they watched the Wallabies game and thought "Well they tried to run everything and got battered so we'll do the opposite"
Like who the hell box kicks on the opposition's 22m without penalty advantage?
I know Daly isn't the best in the air but May is very good and Watson is world class - did they really think we'd be that bad that it was an easy possession win?
I think it was both things. We made some unforced errors and dumb decisions, compounded by fantastic English defence.
That's what is frustrating as a NZ fan, we were inaccurate and didn't control things we should have, then England forced a whole heap more errors through their good play.
Lost to the better side, no arguments. Still annoyed that we didn't show up.
Pure passion from Reid for the jersey
To be fair I don't think the try was a George error, it was an Itoje/Curry error - Itoje switched the call last second and Curry didn't get in position quick enough. George threw where he was supposed to but Itoje wasn't high enough because Curry didn't get to where he needed to be to liftthe gross blunder by George
England made a lot of mistakes too. Not just the two "disallowed tries" but, for example, both May and Farrell tried dubious offloads when all they had to do was take the ball to ground. I shouldn't mention the gross blunder by George, 'cos I thought he was impeccable otherwise. Saying that NZ didn't play that badly. England just played better. The front row did not give away a penalty. In fact I can't remember when the entire front 5 didn't give away a penalty. Some statto can probably remind me. Maybe I missed one. I've been watching rugby for many years, since the days the ABs lost their first game in England (in my home town vs North of England).
I thought NZ were good today. England were just better
Of course it matters if he didn't have various connections he wouldn't speak the lingo making it pretty difficult.
I'm actually not one of those who consistently bags out Youngs but I would judge each performance on its merits. I thought he was the one weak link for England last night, he was absent from numerous rucks, slow to get to the ones he did get to and ponderous once there. I was hoping he had a big game in him but happy to see him save that for the final. Having said all of that, he did take his try very well.I do not understand why Youngs gets so much ****.
Having seen the slating he got on here last week, I rewatched the Aus game as I thought he played well and On second watching I still reckoned he did.
I would say the same again this week.
He has bad games for sure but he's stepped up as this tournament has progressed imho.
I haven't managed to rewatch, but did England give away any kickable penalties or were they all in the NZ half, because I can't remember anyway and that's the level of discipline that I was jealous for Ireland having and wished England could replicate. If so they chose the perfect game to do so.