Autumn Matches

[J Dory]

1 Joe Moody (56)
2 Dane Coles (79)
3 Nepo Laulala (39)
4 Brodie Retallick (91)
5 Samuel Whitelock (131) – captain
6 Akira Ioane (12)
7 Sam Cane (76)
8 Ardie Savea (59)
9 Aaron Smith (101)
10 Richie Mo'unga (31)
11 George Bridge (18)
12 Quinn Tupaea (6)
13 Rieko Ioane (46)
14 Will Jordan (12)
15 Jordie Barrett (35)

16 Samisoni Taukei'aho (8)
17 George Bower (10)
18 Ofa Tuungafasi (43)
19 Tupou Vaa'i (10)
20 Shannon Frizell (16)
21 Brad Weber (16)
22 Damian McKenzie (39)
23 David Havili (14)

[tigran]

1 Joe Moody (56)
2 Dane Coles (79)
3 Nepo Laulala (39)
4 Brodie Retallick (91)
5 Samuel Whitelock (131) – captain
6 Akira Ioane (12)
7 Sam Cane (76)
8 Ardie Savea (59)
9 Aaron Smith (101)
10 Richie Mo'unga (31)
11 George Bridge (18)
12 Quinn Tupaea (6)
13 Rieko Ioane (46)
14 Will Jordan (12)
15 Jordie Barrett (35)

16 Samisoni Taukei'aho (8)
17 George Bower (10)
18 Ofa Tuungafasi (43)
19 Tupou Vaa'i (10)
20 Shannon Frizell (16)
21 Brad Weber (16)
22 Damian McKenzie (39)
23 David Havili (14)

That' s the strongest sélection so far in this tour

[paddy no 11]

How fit is cane?

[cashead]

How fit is cane?

Lack of game time is the main issue.

[Banquo]

That’s a rinsing. France were excellent

[zer0]

All Blacks were collectively poo save for the third quarter where the forwards said 'fuck this noise lets just go straight through the middle'. France, on the other hand, were excellent throughout, including recovering from said third quarter surge when it looked like they were primed to collapse. Turning what was 99% likely a defensive scrum 5m out into a card and penalty goal ~80m downfield was the turning point. Was done via some sexy rugby too.

Get Robertson in there for next season.

[Spy]

Not a great year. Spanked Australia, which is always nice. We could have beaten SA narrowly twice, or equally lost to them narrowly twice, so probably fair to go one-all. Thoroughly towelled by Ireland, and beaten almost as comprehensively by France.

The set piece seems reasonably solid. We didn't lose due to a shaky lineout, or being pushed around in the scrums. We've also had good goal-kicking from J Barrett, with good backups available. Some tenacious defence at times, but we conceded a lot of tries, so really not all that good overall.

We are getting badly out-muscled at the breakdown, are kicking a lot but badly losing the aerial contests, and cannot attack or defend using the maul anywhere near as well as SA, Ireland or France. Attack ineffective toward the end of the season. Midfield unsettled. Kicking from hand mediocre, and overused.

Granted, it's along time to be away from home. Nonetheless, it was a dismal NH tour, and we were only barely at parity with South Africa. Not the comeback year that the coaching team were hoping for after a disappointing 2020, and you've got to think Foster is on thin ice.

[Spy]

France and Ireland were both excellent. Really good rugby.

[cashead]

Had some time to think about the results. I've been thinking about 2009 recently - South Africa were at the top of the rankings, and had beaten the ABs 3-0 in a tough season that went 14-4 in the end (the other loss coming from the season opener against France).

I guess there are some parallels that can be drawn, but there is one key difference. You could see some forward momentum for the All Blacks by the end of the Tri Nations - they outscored the Boks in the Tron, and won all 5 tests at the end of the year. There was a Barbarians fixture that they lost, but those are different, really.

The point is, you could see the team had grown from their struggles and the next year, they were all over the Springboks during the TNs, like the South Africans owed them money, and one bad day at the office in Hong Kong aside, they finished the season with a record-equalling 3rd Grand Slam.

We're just not seeing that this year. I think Ethan Blackadder against Ireland, in a way, epitomises the All Blacks season - doing lots of work, for little to no gain. Think about how many tackles he made, and how many turnovers he won. Loads of one, none of the other. The guys meant to add muscle and grit to the forward pack, like Retallick never really turned up on tour, and the attack plan feels like the product of someone who expects his team to be able to not just run, but do a 100-m sprint before they can walk.

There's already talk in the press of major coaching changes, and honestly, I think at this point, Foster is either going to have to take a step down to open up the top spot, or get dropped entirely. I've been patient with him, and I've tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but what he's proven is that he's better suited to coming up with a tactic based on someone else's bible, rather than write his own. It's frustrating because we saw glimpses of what he wants to do. At times, the All Blacks were absolutely unplayable for the opposition, but when it mattered, they wilted.

The way I see it, there are 3 options

Gats, Schmidt and Razor. All three have proven track records, and IMO, at least 2 of them should be promoted into the ABs set-up - one as HC, and the other as a specialist coach.

[Puja]

Please take Gatland. Please. I'm begging you.

Puja

[J Dory]

Had some time to think about the results. I've been thinking about 2009 recently - South Africa were at the top of the rankings, and had beaten the ABs 3-0 in a tough season that went 14-4 in the end (the other loss coming from the season opener against France).

I guess there are some parallels that can be drawn, but there is one key difference. You could see some forward momentum for the All Blacks by the end of the Tri Nations - they outscored the Boks in the Tron, and won all 5 tests at the end of the year. There was a Barbarians fixture that they lost, but those are different, really.

The point is, you could see the team had grown from their struggles and the next year, they were all over the Springboks during the TNs, like the South Africans owed them money, and one bad day at the office in Hong Kong aside, they finished the season with a record-equalling 3rd Grand Slam.

We're just not seeing that this year. I think Ethan Blackadder against Ireland, in a way, epitomises the All Blacks season - doing lots of work, for little to no gain. Think about how many tackles he made, and how many turnovers he won. Loads of one, none of the other. The guys meant to add muscle and grit to the forward pack, like Retallick never really turned up on tour, and the attack plan feels like the product of someone who expects his team to be able to not just run, but do a 100-m sprint before they can walk.

There's already talk in the press of major coaching changes, and honestly, I think at this point, Foster is either going to have to take a step down to open up the top spot, or get dropped entirely. I've been patient with him, and I've tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but what he's proven is that he's better suited to coming up with a tactic based on someone else's bible, rather than write his own. It's frustrating because we saw glimpses of what he wants to do. At times, the All Blacks were absolutely unplayable for the opposition, but when it mattered, they wilted.

The way I see it, there are 3 options

Gats, Schmidt and Razor. All three have proven track records, and IMO, at least 2 of them should be promoted into the ABs set-up - one as HC, and the other as a specialist coach.

Nice to have you back Cas, where yu bin?

[cashead]

Nice to have you back Cas, where yu bin?

Working for the Catholic Church.

[Doorzetbornandbred]

Nice to have you back Cas, where yu bin?

Working for the Catholic Church.

Theres a touchy subject that could take the heat off of old Fozzie

[J Dory]

Nice to have you back Cas, where yu bin?

Working for the Catholic Church.

Pray tell.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[cashead]

Nice to have you back Cas, where yu bin?

Working for the Catholic Church.

Pray tell.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

It’s nowhere near as salacious as you’d expect. I work at a Catholic school now as a layperson.

Seriously considered quitting teaching entirely when a friend mentioned a job at Rainbow Youth the other day though.