All Blacks 08 and beyond

[Ab]

Originally Posted by wugambino

Sheridan , over rated much?

Sheridan, 2005: nowhere to be seen on the Lions tour. I know he was in the squad, but impact? Zero.

Sheridan, 2006: in the test at Twickenham Sheridan got broken in half by Carl Hayman at every scrum. Sheridan got subbed off in the second half while Hayman played out the win.

So, in conclusion... yes, wug

[JP]

So what's the verdict fella's? All the panic/whining was over nothing? Or are the AB's still untested till the tri nations?

[Spidey]

I defensive effort from the English were average at best, there was pretty much none from their flyhalf outwards. Will have to wait till the tri-nations before a verdict can be made.

[untouchable]

The first 20 mins or so England was very impressive at the ruck, counter rucking etc. Nice low body positions etc.

I really enjoyed the first half. The last 20 - 30 was some of the worst rugby I have seen for a while.

[Rince]

Originally Posted by blynk

Leon got a head bump.

as soon as that happened I thought of this thread

[mr selfdestruct]

Originally Posted by JiggaRoll

I thought Kaino was more solid off the back than Lauaki, don't think either of them deserve to be put into the Sheridan category just yet. Will give them a few more games before I piss and moan about how much better I would play

Was it Lauaki doing the lazy run back to the ball when Ojo scored his second try?

I saw that in slo mo, that isn't Lauaki's normal speed, he was stuffed and that was the most pathetic attempt at retrieving the ball I've seen in a long time. I bet if he thought he could score a try he would have been running triple that speed. He'd hardly even been on the field that long and it was a jog to the ball at best, shocking. :/

[blynk]

Originally Posted by mr selfdestruct

I saw that in slo mo, that isn't Lauaki's normal speed, he was stuffed and that was the most pathetic attempt at retrieving the ball I've seen in a long time. I bet if he thought he could score a try he would have been running triple that speed. He'd hardly even been on the field that long and it was a jog to the ball at best, shocking. :/

Wasn't Sivivatu actually coming across to take the ball?
However, he should still be trying to get there to help out.

[buckies]

Originally Posted by Rince

so buckies.... still bagging Smith?

Smith had an excellent game, no qualms there. But, carving up the English is like performing well in a School C exam. Hold off the final assessment till the end of the Tri Nations, and then we'll see if we've finally got a long term centre again.

My problem with Smith is he still hasn't proven that he can break the line. I hold the traditional view that a centre should always be more smash/bash and the second five should be more of the carving runner and back up tactical kicker. Now that Nonu’s distribution is solid, my dream backline is Leonard, Carter, McAlister, Nonu, Sivi, Roko, MacDonald (maybe Evans though ). Smith reads the game well, distributes well, defends well, and is an all-round Mr Reliable. However, the line breaking quality of the centre is missing, and I think that once opposition catch on to him he’ll be exposed. I could eat my words, but asforementioned, wait and see till after the Tri Nations.

Other thoughts are:

• Tuitavake had a blinder. He was pumped and hungry all game, and really injected himself into it. I like this guy.

• WTF on the first English try. To me it looked as though Mills was only cantering the first half of the run down as if he had him lined up, and then realised he wasn't going to catch him with 40 or so metres to go. Very weird. Would like to watch again from a full field camera angle.

• I'd still like to see MacDonald starting in the Tri Nations. Yes, he got concussed again, point taken there, but as long as he is happy to continue putting his body on the line then he should be given the jersey given his current form.

• Can we please end the playing it safe with same province combinations? We all know that the #1 halfback in NZ is Brendan Leonard, and Ellis had an average game at best. That attempted clearance that went backwards was abominable.

Overall though, is was a good rugby test match which satisfied the hiding I predicted. The scoreline flattered the English and the ref let them get away with far too diving all over the ball at the breakdown in a weak attempt to kill the ball and slow the game down. Welcome to the pace of southern hemisphere rugby chaps. Can we get a southern hemisphere ref for second test please?

[pig]

That last 20-30 was pretty hard to watch.
Hopefully they give Thomson or someone another shot next week off the bench, i thought Lauaki was hopeless. Kaino made that fantastic try saver early on & seemed fairly busy but i see him more as a blindside than No 8.
Ref had me scratching my head a bit, he was all over the place with his calls & when he pinged Richie he just flat out got it wrong.
Lineouts were okay but turned to shit when Mealamu came on, he just kept overthrowing. Other thing that surprised me was when Jimmy Cowan came on for Ellis & walked past him, damn he's a big bugger for a halfback.
Good timing on that interchange as Ellis was starting to get on the ref's nerves i think. Can we get a bloody day game please, sick of night games wihch contribute to the crap handling.

[mr selfdestruct]

Anyone see the NZ Maori game? Oh man...... ten minutes before kick off it was just a LAKE. As soon as I saw it I opened the TAB website as soon as possible to put the Maori's down 12 and under (TAB favouried Maori to win by 13+ under ideal conditions so 12- paying generously) but just as I went to submit my bet the bastards had withdrawn all odds as they'd obviously seen the crap conditions too! Sure enough, it was 12-

[buckies]

Originally Posted by pig

Ref had me scratching my head a bit, he was all over the place with his calls & when he pinged Richie he just flat out got it wrong.
.

Yeah, that was lol. Ref said "You're not the tackler". Richie gave him a bemused look and told him he was. Subsequent replay showed Richie was the tackler. Nice call ref you tit.

[pig]

Man Sheridan will never come back, he's out of the next test & also Kaplan is reffing the next game.

[ipee]

Originally Posted by buckies

I'd still like to see MacDonald starting in the Tri Nations. Yes, he got concussed again, point taken there, but as long as he is happy to continue putting his body on the line then he should be given the jersey given his current form.

Mils actually proved why he is the first choice against England. Safe under the high ball, good defensively and his support play was superb. MacDonald was pretty messy when he got subbed on.....oh yeah, and he got knocked da fuck out AGAIN! Maybe it's time to retire MacDonald?.....will someone please think about the children!!

[blynk]

MacDonald really needs to wear some head gear. Surely it can't be that bad, and it will help stop him getting fked up.

[ZoSo]

Rotation is back

[mr selfdestruct]

I for one would be more comfortable seeing Kahui or Wulf up against SA/Au if they had some game time against England under their belt. Like Henry said, they're not going to win every game by sticking to the same 15 players all year.

[blynk]

Originally Posted by ZoSo

Rotation is back

I don't believe it is quite "rotation" yet. We have had a lot of changes in the team since last year, so you can't just pick a team and expect them to be the best. You have to give other a go.

Its once you have a strong steady team and you start changing them, then you can call it rotation

[mr selfdestruct]

I agree, how can they tell whose the best out of Smith and Kahui when neither of them have had much game time? The same goes for Wulf and Tuitivake.

[buckies]

This is not rotation. It's frustrating that people quickly jumping to this conclusion. This is blooding/fitness/trial. If in the Tri Nations we use a different line up each week (that are not due to injuries) then please, by all means, start screaming "rotation".

Kahui and Tuitavake are untested at this level, and need to be tested before we play the games that matter. Although Tuitivake and Smith both had blinders last week these guys deserve a chance to prove themselves prior to the Tri Nations, as they may well be the people that occupy those starting jerseys.

MacDonald arguably deserves the spot on form, and I imagine Mills' hamstring is giving him grief too, so you can't claim rotation being the culprit there.

This is not a second rate team. England's changes are in the vain hopes of beefing up their defense, but they will still play the boring territorial kicking game. I don't think they'll be able to plug the holes properly in a week by throwing in some different players, and another 15-21 or 22-28 win will eventuate this weekend (provided it is a dry track).

[buckies]

The team is:

Mils Muliaina, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Rudi Wulf, Dan Carter, Andy Ellis, Jerome Kaino, Rodney So'oialo, Adam Thomson, Ali Williams, Brad Thorn, Greg Somerville, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock.

Reserves: Keven Mealamu, Neemia Tialata, Anthony Boric, Sione Lauaki, Stephen Donald, Leon MacDonald, plus one to be named.

from: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4603822a10.html

I knew they'd go conservative and stick with Smith over Kahui. Glad to see Williams recovered in time. Given McCaw is out, this is the best trio we can hope for, although I still reckon Burger will have a field day.

Rudi Wulf is the big surprise. Tuitivake had a better game against England in the 1st test, but I agree that bringing back Roko would be too soon since he's only just recovered from the injury that side lined him.

Overall, a pretty solid team. I'm tipping the ABs by 8-14 and hoping that the absence of Richie is not fatal. Our backs are too classy for the Saffas, and Dan's boot is too solid at the moment. Provided the forwards lay up a decent enough platform, we should pull through.