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Rugby World Cup 2015
Your country's game plan for the World Cup
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<blockquote data-quote="Mcfadden" data-source="post: 744148" data-attributes="member: 72865"><p>I've tried to blend in some of what I think you'll see from the All Blacks with my concerns and contentment. I'm sure members like Nick or Larksea will give something more accurate and comprehensive </p><p></p><p>It's clear with the inclusion of Nehe Milner Skudder and Waisake Naholo that Steve Hansen wants to A) Stay true to the All Blacks exciting brand of rugby, which is heavily reliant on attack and counter-attack rather than laborious or defensive tactics and B) keep teams guessing (most teams won't know much about these two). I actually had an entire paragraph dedicated to this, but I'm going to take it out to avoid the X vs Y player thing you talked about. But from a team perspective, put it this way, both of them are game changers. When there's a complete lull in the second half, you could give the ball to one of these guys and boom - you either score or gain extremely good yardage. So while the game plan will be more tight in the knockout games, I think the ABs will still try to utilize their natural game of exciting running rugby. Not just necessarily kick for territory every couple of minutes. </p><p></p><p>In my opinion, our tackling needs to be better. Australia played very well in Sydney, but my goodness we missed some easy tackles. The stats will tell you that the All Blacks actually tackled the best in the Rugby Championship. McCaw and Read were the two top tacklers individually. But as a collective effort, missing 23 and 28 tackles is not good enough for the best team in the world. And it's partially why we lost the trophy this year. If there is one area I admire the English in the last couple of games it's been their defensive efforts. Tackle success rates in the 90 percent range. I'd like to aim for that. I also think our ruck success rate could improve. As a few other kiwi posters have noted in other threads; we don't turn the ball over as much as we use to. Wouldn't mind an emphasis on getting numbers to the breakdown as fast as we can. If Chekia plays Hooper and Pocock together again, this will be essential. To be brutally honest, I thought at times in the RC we looked very old-manish. So unless we plan on playing McCaw and Cane together (which I heavily doubt) then the whole unit needs to be a bit more competitive and quick at the rucks.</p><p></p><p>I actually think the All Blacks have kept a few tricks up their sleeves for this world cup, like most teams probably have. I'd keep an eye on the set piece. Hansen is a very intelligent guy, he has a pretty clear sense of what catches teams out. If the ABs get to the knock out games, and they will definitely get to the quarters, keep an eye on the line out. In 2011 we had the teabag from Tony Woodcock, this year we had Cody Taylor and Richie McCaw link up to catch the Springboks out in a similar move that Samoa did to SA and it worked. </p><p></p><p>The All Blacks have done well on restarts over the years. Dan Carter is very good at placing a well weighted kick and it's usually a guy like Kerian Read who does the tremendous follow up work. If a team scores against the All Blacks, my expectation would be that New Zealand would strike back very soon afterwards. Much like the Crusaders use to do in their hay day. I think that's an area that the ABs do better than a lot of other teams. When the opposition scores, we don't coil into a shell. It's an 80 minute game, and the ABs recognize that. But by the same token, I also would like to see the ABs make better starts on the score board. Playing catch up rugby like we have over the past few years is just too risky in the knock out stages. It smells too much like 2007. Also speaking of kicks, I think you'll see a few cross-field kicks from Carter or Barrett in the world cup. It's another area I think we do very well and can think on our feet quickly. Carter especially has very good control over a game and can sum up a situation well. My only worry here is the first 20 minutes of the Eden Park test - where Carter kicked FAR too much. Luckily in that test, the frequency of kicking subsided. </p><p></p><p>The All Blacks have the most comprehensive offloading game that I have seen, and when it comes off it's brilliant, but towards the semi final and final I wouldn't mind if they substituted that push-pass for more patience. If it's on, yeah, go for it. But don't compromise golden possession for trying to be too fancy and cute.</p><p></p><p>Strengths: Restarts, intelligent set piece moves, clean breaks, exciting attack and counter attack rugby, aggression </p><p>Weaknesses: Slow starts, tackling, patience, turning the ball over at the ruck, speed of getting to the ruck</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mcfadden, post: 744148, member: 72865"] I've tried to blend in some of what I think you'll see from the All Blacks with my concerns and contentment. I'm sure members like Nick or Larksea will give something more accurate and comprehensive It's clear with the inclusion of Nehe Milner Skudder and Waisake Naholo that Steve Hansen wants to A) Stay true to the All Blacks exciting brand of rugby, which is heavily reliant on attack and counter-attack rather than laborious or defensive tactics and B) keep teams guessing (most teams won't know much about these two). I actually had an entire paragraph dedicated to this, but I'm going to take it out to avoid the X vs Y player thing you talked about. But from a team perspective, put it this way, both of them are game changers. When there's a complete lull in the second half, you could give the ball to one of these guys and boom - you either score or gain extremely good yardage. So while the game plan will be more tight in the knockout games, I think the ABs will still try to utilize their natural game of exciting running rugby. Not just necessarily kick for territory every couple of minutes. In my opinion, our tackling needs to be better. Australia played very well in Sydney, but my goodness we missed some easy tackles. The stats will tell you that the All Blacks actually tackled the best in the Rugby Championship. McCaw and Read were the two top tacklers individually. But as a collective effort, missing 23 and 28 tackles is not good enough for the best team in the world. And it's partially why we lost the trophy this year. If there is one area I admire the English in the last couple of games it's been their defensive efforts. Tackle success rates in the 90 percent range. I'd like to aim for that. I also think our ruck success rate could improve. As a few other kiwi posters have noted in other threads; we don't turn the ball over as much as we use to. Wouldn't mind an emphasis on getting numbers to the breakdown as fast as we can. If Chekia plays Hooper and Pocock together again, this will be essential. To be brutally honest, I thought at times in the RC we looked very old-manish. So unless we plan on playing McCaw and Cane together (which I heavily doubt) then the whole unit needs to be a bit more competitive and quick at the rucks. I actually think the All Blacks have kept a few tricks up their sleeves for this world cup, like most teams probably have. I'd keep an eye on the set piece. Hansen is a very intelligent guy, he has a pretty clear sense of what catches teams out. If the ABs get to the knock out games, and they will definitely get to the quarters, keep an eye on the line out. In 2011 we had the teabag from Tony Woodcock, this year we had Cody Taylor and Richie McCaw link up to catch the Springboks out in a similar move that Samoa did to SA and it worked. The All Blacks have done well on restarts over the years. Dan Carter is very good at placing a well weighted kick and it's usually a guy like Kerian Read who does the tremendous follow up work. If a team scores against the All Blacks, my expectation would be that New Zealand would strike back very soon afterwards. Much like the Crusaders use to do in their hay day. I think that's an area that the ABs do better than a lot of other teams. When the opposition scores, we don't coil into a shell. It's an 80 minute game, and the ABs recognize that. But by the same token, I also would like to see the ABs make better starts on the score board. Playing catch up rugby like we have over the past few years is just too risky in the knock out stages. It smells too much like 2007. Also speaking of kicks, I think you'll see a few cross-field kicks from Carter or Barrett in the world cup. It's another area I think we do very well and can think on our feet quickly. Carter especially has very good control over a game and can sum up a situation well. My only worry here is the first 20 minutes of the Eden Park test - where Carter kicked FAR too much. Luckily in that test, the frequency of kicking subsided. The All Blacks have the most comprehensive offloading game that I have seen, and when it comes off it's brilliant, but towards the semi final and final I wouldn't mind if they substituted that push-pass for more patience. If it's on, yeah, go for it. But don't compromise golden possession for trying to be too fancy and cute. Strengths: Restarts, intelligent set piece moves, clean breaks, exciting attack and counter attack rugby, aggression Weaknesses: Slow starts, tackling, patience, turning the ball over at the ruck, speed of getting to the ruck [/QUOTE]
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Rugby World Cup 2015
Your country's game plan for the World Cup
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