NZ vs England - round 2

[Mellsblue]

Next to zero chance we win this. Even if we get close the ref will find a way to give them a soft dubious penalty to give them the chance they need.

The “All Blacks” aura at work…

What a load of shit.

Not sure why you dignified it with a response.

Well played. Your boys were relentless. BB was utter class when he came on.

[Mellsblue]

No idea why we took Smith off.

[FKAS]

Pretty poor last quarter. Too many errors and dumb options. Overkicked it again. Bench made limited impact.

Baxter was terrific. itoje was superb.

Yeah Fin Baxter seemed to have learned a few things from last week. He's going to win a lot of caps.

Itoje fatigued badly. For 60 mins he was head and shoulders the best player on the park but as the game went on his decision making went wrong as the tank ran empty.

We've got a few big players to come back into the squad so not the end of the world but it really is a case of opportunity missed to win away in New Zealand.

[Puja]

Don't know why George is so incensed - never seen a more obvious decision.

We've got no-one to blame but ourselves for that game - we dominated territory and possession for about 15-20 minutes in that second half and only got 3 points out of it. The KADAB counter will be back for the minute-by-minute, cause some of that was shit.

We did look tired though. The defensive press wasn't as all-encompassing, too many simple one-on-one tackles were dropped, and some of our attacking malaise was people visibly dragging themselves back into position or just running out of brainpower with fatigue and kicking as a default option.

Overall, you'd say the tour's a qualified success - young, inexperienced team coming very, very close and it's more evidence to the body of work that Borthwick knows what he's doing and is building something good. Shades of 1999/00 England, where we were just off getting the victories in the big matches and were in the larval stage of growing a side that could get over the line, but we do need to follow their example and start actually winning, pretty damned quick. IBWT... for now.

Puja

[FKAS]

No idea why we took Smith off.

Because he looked tired and was kicking the ball away? Looked good once he'd had a quick break on the sidelines. Nit sure Fin Smith added a great deal sadly. Looked solid but there was his chance to show off his box of tricks.

[Banquo]

Pretty poor last quarter. Too many errors and dumb options. Overkicked it again. Bench made limited impact.

Baxter was terrific. itoje was superb.

Yeah Fin Baxter seemed to have learned a few things from last week. He's going to win a lot of caps.

Itoje fatigued badly. For 60 mins he was head and shoulders the best player on the park but as the game went on his decision making went wrong as the tank ran empty.

We've got a few big players to come back into the squad so not the end of the world but it really is a case of opportunity missed to win away in New Zealand.

Itoje has been flogged to death this season.
No idea why CCS was so underused as a carrier.
Questionable subs and use of same.

[Puja]

Next to zero chance we win this. Even if we get close the ref will find a way to give them a soft dubious penalty to give them the chance they need.

The “All Blacks” aura at work…

What a load of shit.

Not sure why you dignified it with a response.

Well played. Your boys were relentless. BB was utter class when he came on.

Seconded. Against most other opposition, those performances would've been good enough for 2-0 to England and you did a hell of a job to shut us down, twice.

Pretty poor last quarter. Too many errors and dumb options. Overkicked it again. Bench made limited impact.

Baxter was terrific. itoje was superb.

Yeah Fin Baxter seemed to have learned a few things from last week. He's going to win a lot of caps.

Itoje fatigued badly. For 60 mins he was head and shoulders the best player on the park but as the game went on his decision making went wrong as the tank ran empty.

We've got a few big players to come back into the squad so not the end of the world but it really is a case of opportunity missed to win away in New Zealand.

Agreed to Maro - Coles should have been saved to come on for him, as he really did look done for.

Puja

[Puja]

Pretty poor last quarter. Too many errors and dumb options. Overkicked it again. Bench made limited impact.

Baxter was terrific. itoje was superb.

Yeah Fin Baxter seemed to have learned a few things from last week. He's going to win a lot of caps.

Itoje fatigued badly. For 60 mins he was head and shoulders the best player on the park but as the game went on his decision making went wrong as the tank ran empty.

We've got a few big players to come back into the squad so not the end of the world but it really is a case of opportunity missed to win away in New Zealand.

Itoje has been flogged to death this season.
No idea why CCS was so underused as a carrier.
Questionable subs and use of same.

CCS was targetted in the first half and knocked backwards by double tackles (needs to work on not carrying upright, just the same as Lawes did) - I'm not surprised we moved away from him as a primary option for a chunk of the match.

Puja

[FKAS]

Don't know why George is so incensed - never seen a more obvious decision.

Don't think he was happy about the way the maul went down, which they didn't really look at in any detail.

Had the Lawrence break away not been so obviously illegal it was a penalty try as the tackler rolls onto the wrong side to hold the ball up short and then the ABs try to drag George over the line as England pile in to clean out.

The whole thing was a bodge. We over commited to the maul and didn't give ourselves any options when we needed to break off. Sleightholme stays wide and Mitchell stays connected to the ball and I say it's a 50/50 chance we go over in the corner.

[Captainhaircut]

Next to zero chance we win this. Even if we get close the ref will find a way to give them a soft dubious penalty to give them the chance they need.

The “All Blacks” aura at work…

What a load of shit.

Not sure why you dignified it with a response.

Well played. Your boys were relentless. BB was utter class when he came on.

Have none of you seen a New Zealand game in the last 20 years? Endlessly given the rub of the green at scrums and breakdown. Same today.

Obviously they are hugely talented but like every other sport, officials get blinded by a pre-conceived notion of who is the best. Particularly if that side is playing at home.

If you disagree, then so be it. There’s entire studies into it though…

Anyway, very much taking a moral victory from this tour. We’re at the end of a brutal season and the mighty “All Blacks” barely beat us in both games. Missing a fair few key players too.

[FKAS]

Yeah Fin Baxter seemed to have learned a few things from last week. He's going to win a lot of caps.

Itoje fatigued badly. For 60 mins he was head and shoulders the best player on the park but as the game went on his decision making went wrong as the tank ran empty.

We've got a few big players to come back into the squad so not the end of the world but it really is a case of opportunity missed to win away in New Zealand.

Itoje has been flogged to death this season.
No idea why CCS was so underused as a carrier.
Questionable subs and use of same.

CCS was targetted in the first half and knocked backwards by double tackles (needs to work on not carrying upright, just the same as Lawes did) - I'm not surprised we moved away from him as a primary option for a chunk of the match.

Puja

After last weekend the ABs knew what was coming and CCS got smashed a few times.

George Martin did well in the tight carrying department though, made those precious 1m gains into multiple defenders so we could reset.

I think the side is 95% there and with some fine tuning can kick on again for the AIs.

[Banquo]

Yeah Fin Baxter seemed to have learned a few things from last week. He's going to win a lot of caps.

Itoje fatigued badly. For 60 mins he was head and shoulders the best player on the park but as the game went on his decision making went wrong as the tank ran empty.

We've got a few big players to come back into the squad so not the end of the world but it really is a case of opportunity missed to win away in New Zealand.

Itoje has been flogged to death this season.
No idea why CCS was so underused as a carrier.
Questionable subs and use of same.

CCS was targetted in the first half and knocked backwards by double tackles (needs to work on not carrying upright, just the same as Lawes did) - I'm not surprised we moved away from him as a primary option for a chunk of the match.

Puja

All well and good but with so few carriers, using him only 4 times seems a bit of an oversteer. V 23 carries for Earl.

[Banquo]

Yeah Fin Baxter seemed to have learned a few things from last week. He's going to win a lot of caps.

Itoje fatigued badly. For 60 mins he was head and shoulders the best player on the park but as the game went on his decision making went wrong as the tank ran empty.

We've got a few big players to come back into the squad so not the end of the world but it really is a case of opportunity missed to win away in New Zealand.

Itoje has been flogged to death this season.
No idea why CCS was so underused as a carrier.
Questionable subs and use of same.

CCS was targetted in the first half and knocked backwards by double tackles (needs to work on not carrying upright, just the same as Lawes did) - I'm not surprised we moved away from him as a primary option for a chunk of the match.

Puja

Plus, I’d like him to stay on longer

Though just spotted he did 63 mins so take that back.

[Oakboy]

SB has developed a competitive starting XV but he needs a re-think on the back-up resources.

[morepork]

Next to zero chance we win this. Even if we get close the ref will find a way to give them a soft dubious penalty to give them the chance they need.

The “All Blacks” aura at work…

What a load of shit.

Not sure why you dignified it with a response.

Well played. Your boys were relentless. BB was utter class when he came on.

It was a great game. Minimal handbags and two teams going at it. BB was immense off the bench, and broke up that suffocating England defence. Thought M Smith was pretty handy too. Great to see England playing off him.

[Spiffy]

Fair play to the ABs - they turned up the heat when they needed it. Still, England could have nicked that game with better decision making. Poor old Steward looked out of it at this level with his lack of gas and agility. England really needs a good 12 with power/hands/rugby brains. The balance of the starting back row does not look quite right.
But they gave it a good thrash.

[Mellsblue]

Don't know why George is so incensed - never seen a more obvious decision.

Puja

Pro sportsman who thought he was going to make history as captain would be my guess.

[Puja]

SB has developed a competitive starting XV but he needs a re-think on the back-up resources.

Wouldn't it'd've been nice to have the option to bring Randall on in the last 10 minutes and push the pace higher? I'm glad Spencer didn't come on, but he was an utter waste of a bench spot.

Puja

[morepork]

What a load of shit.

Not sure why you dignified it with a response.

Well played. Your boys were relentless. BB was utter class when he came on.

Have none of you seen a New Zealand game in the last 20 years? Endlessly given the rub of the green at scrums and breakdown. Same today.

Obviously they are hugely talented but like every other sport, officials get blinded by a pre-conceived notion of who is the best. Particularly if that side is playing at home.

If you disagree, then so be it. There’s entire studies into it though…

Anyway, very much taking a moral victory from this tour. We’re at the end of a brutal season and the mighty “All Blacks” barely beat us in both games. Missing a fair few key players too.

Entire studies...Jesus

[Puja]

What a load of shit.

Not sure why you dignified it with a response.

Well played. Your boys were relentless. BB was utter class when he came on.

It was a great game. Minimal handbags and two teams going at it. BB was immense off the bench, and broke up that suffocating England defence. Thought M Smith was pretty handy too. Great to see England playing off him.

Bloody hate Beauden Barrett. Completely turned the game in your favour, two weekends in a row, which strikes me as rude.

Puja

[Banquo]

11 pens, 2 free kicks and 20% tackles missed will all be of concern.

Lot of good stuff offset by pretty ropy stuff. Frustrating.

[Banquo]

Don't know why George is so incensed - never seen a more obvious decision.

Puja

Pro sportsman who thought he was going to make history as captain would be my guess.

Also had to play 75 mins poor sod

[Mellsblue]

No idea why we took Smith off.

Because he looked tired and was kicking the ball away? Looked good once he'd had a quick break on the sidelines. Nit sure Fin Smith added a great deal sadly. Looked solid but there was his chance to show off his box of tricks.

You’d have to take quite a few of the backs off for kicking the ball away if that’s the case. Poor decsion, imo.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Decent game. Both teams made it scrappy for each other. ABs disrupted our ball and flow well. Couple of contentious decisions, but that’s rugby.

Main concerns were the bench again and having so much territory for spells in both halves and getting next to fuck all from it. Not a million miles away, but still some big flaws to iron out.

[Banquo]

Decent game. Both teams made it scrappy for each other. ABs disrupted our ball and flow well. Couple of contentious decisions, but that’s rugby.

Main concerns were the bench again and having so much territory for spells in both halves and getting next to fuck all from it. Not a million miles away, but still some big flaws to iron out.

Decision making was dire in the last 20 and we gave them too many easy outs.