Well - Well - Well.
All that was bad has been forgotten has it?
The Boks played about 150% above themselves and NZ played at about 60% - By design I suspect.
NZ will unleash in the World Cup.
Mark my words.
Willkommen Dame Linda.
New Zealand will be a force at the WC. Teams are catching up though. The NH is gaining more and meow power too. No more is there the "big 3". The Boks played well above themselves in Wellington, the Loftus test was another matter entirely as the completely shut New Zealand's game down. Win or lose, that builds considerable confidence and lessons will have been learned by on looking coaches. New Zealand's midfield is the rockiest it's been in well over a decade. Some questions hang over both halfbacks. It's not going to be easy. Fortunately for you Hansen is more prudent and won't dismiss these things. For that reason alone, as always, they'll sort their problems out.
Clou ds, all new posters are marked as possible spam untill they reach a certain post count. It is the responsibility of the members not to ban legitimate new members.
Welcome Linda. Please start posting away!
PS, you are saying the Allblacks played below par to trap South Africa into complacency at the next RWC?
He definitely told Barrett to miss that drop kick. They'd been practicing the miss all week.
Hello Rugby Linda .
Nice to meet ya.
Welcome - Rugby Linda
As Cloudy implies we need some real brains on site and that is what she brings to the site, She can do with some assistance.
I am not all that sure about your statement as to the AB's underperforming in the two SA tests - you may have a point there, but we will have to see how things develop in future, I believe there is a different scenario - namely that the Springboks during the past decade suffered from dud coaching and poor selections . For the first time since 2008 the Springboks have a reasonable coach trying to get the players to play intelligent rugby and as far as I am concerned if that trait continues they will be competitive again.
Agreed, kicking is very important. The first coach since 2010 to get it.
AO
Just a quote from you:-
"New Zealand's midfield is the rockiest it's been in well over a decade."
I think when I pointed out SBW as the weak link in the AB neckline before the Pretoria test - you lost it completely and implied that I was talking nonsense. Afterwards you changed your story
Your "rookiest" remark is also defective. In the Wellington test the AB's played the following centers:-
Ryan Crotty - 39 tests
Anton Lienart- Brown - 28 tests
In the Pretoria test it was =
Ryan Crotty - 40 tests
SBW - 47 tests
I would not call that "rookiest" at all - fact it is the exact opposite.
I have mentioned Jack Goodhue in the past - that guy is moving into contention now and will be next year at the WC a fixture in the AB squad. That guy really is a miracle center - the best center I have seen in Super Rugby in years. So watch out for him in future.
You did it again! Read before typing. I said rockiest. Least stable. Not rookiest.
And no, I didn't "lose it", I barely gave you the time of day on the issue.
Cloudy
I do think that SBW is getting over-the- hill quicker than expected. He definitely was top class and I hve doubts about him at present.
My own forecast is that Goodhue will end up as a better center than Conrad Smith ever was. See whether that will happen.
AO
I would not say rockiest means anything other than being "solid as a rock" Rocks are not unstable or least stable anyway.
What I wrote on SBW was clear and your response on SBW was clear. The latter was a total onslaught to try and \discredit me as is normal by you and you were as per normal wrong in your assessment of the situation. However, you never admitted after the game that my forecast of the situation was right and yours wrong.
I would not say rockiest means anything other than being "solid as a rock" Rocks are not unstable or least stable anyway.
rockySorry
I did not think of the dancing term here.
We all learn all the time, Mike.
Mikey I think SBW will be around to serve more in a mentoring role for the likes of Goodhue ,imagine Goodhue with the offloading ability of SBWin his prime .
Good idea - as long is SBW does not start in ga mes. .
Mikey I thing pogoing ,waltzing ,quickstep and tango ,foxtrot and the black bottom are all dancing terms too but It might make an interesting dancing with the stars if they combined it with rugby stuff.
Some rock stars are unstable
How ya doing rooitwit the mole?
As for the wee abs they are there for the taking. Cant really get the better of a rookie Bok side just starting off under a new coach!
Keep posting Linda thi s should be fun!
moolaa
I think there were some uncalled for errors by the Springboks that helped the AB's to win in Pretoria. I w2as really not impressed with the overall AB performance in that test.
I think that there needs a change at inside center and that Retallick may add value to their locks. For the rest I do not see much that Hansen can do to strengthen the team.
Either way, the last ten minutes is a very dangerous time to introduce so many new players. That's where many games are won or lost. The All Blacks were obviously going to fight harder as time ran out, and our newbies had no feel for the intensity or flow of the game. They looked horribly out of sync with the game. Rassie didn't handle the second appropriately. Besides, Koch, Snyman weren't quotas and they were two players who contributed negatively. Steph was another. Willemse another. We can't pin this entirely on quotas.
The end result proved that there was no domination.
Only one thing counts in Rugby.
The final result.
Either you score more points than the opposition and win or you don't and you lose.
You can twist the story to try and satisfy anything emotionally but it doesn't change the result.
NZ went to South Africa to win and that's exactly what they did.
Once again - Rugby is an 80 min plus game not 60 or 65 minutes.
Time again NZ find ways to win and at the end of the day - The NZ mentality is to win - They DON'T give a damn how they get there as long as they win and win they did.
South Africans can spin it whatever way they want but they will never learn.
For NZ it is all about winning - Not how damn pretty you look - Domination is a an intangible pipedream While South Africans were masturbating themelves thinking they were going to win it - NZ WON IT.
Willkommen Herr Drache, wie geht es euch?
You lot are only using the subs excuse because you were hammered in the last 15 and can't stand the fact you gave away a 17 point lead TWICE and this all in the 2nd half!
The ABs had it all over the Boks mentally and physically so I don't know how Rassie will attempt to rectify that situation.
Mooaa
To be quite frank you are not objective. In the last few minutes of the game the AB's was defending furiously in their red zone - so they were not overpowering the Springboks at all. They got a penalty and kicked the ball down field with a weird bounce taking it out meters from the AB tryline.
The second last try cane from a penalty awarded to them on the halfway line.
Both tries resulted from forward pressure from near the try-line and were scored by forwards. I do not think that it was really signs of over-powering anybody. Without the two penalties there would have been no tries and where would the AB's then have been.
I think both teams wer e in both tests competitive and none of the teams really overpowered the opposing team. For me it is a good sign that SA after years of decline is becoming more competitive. What is wrong with that?
Hi Linda
Maybe a few more posts and we'll...
"Mark your words."
Just to clarify. NZ intentionally played poorly for the first 60 minutes?
Sounds plausible. See below.
Question:
If a team is instructed to play poorly, and then lose the game...you're aware that criminal charges are in order?
In fact, I could be wrong, but instructing a team to perform to anything but their best standard, regardless of the outcome, is a criminal offence.
So I take that when you say "by design"...You mean that they were trying some new things/combinations that they knew were risky?
There were no crazy new combinations in the game though. You can tell that directly from the starting lineup and bench.
There were also no surprisingly new tactics. It was pretty much run of the mill ABs.
Right?
Unless you care you care to elaborate on what was so different?
Therefore, you are outright confessing that the ABs and their coaches are criminals?
We have suspected it all along.
Thank you for the confirmation and also a well thought through first post.
On second thoughts, we probably shant be "marking your words" any time soon.
Let's change the application of the laws again...we demand new ELV's!!!
Not a fan of "bragging " as such ,I prefer to praise our lads and dont feel the need to have a go at other peoples teams or players the ABs performance means theres no point in anyone doing it .
Some from both sides do but thats the way it is although attitudes can change most Kiwis here get on just fine but it wasnt always the case when we first came on here ,And some like beano,plum and cc continually pour shit on our team ,fans and country ..
If you lose then "dominance " counts for bugger all .
Mike, we weren't defending furiously in our red zone in the last few minutes. The only reason we were inside our 22 was because the Boks had just kicked off after the ABs scored their 2nd to last try!!
Moola - if they were in their 22 only because of the kick-off - who had possession of the ball before the penalty - definitely not the AB's. That was the reason why I made the claim. Open your eyes please.
The penalty was on about the 10 metre line in our territory, not inside our 22.
Boks had the ball because Perenara put up a box kick but they cocked up under the enormous physical and mental pressure the ABs put them under!
Wardad. us Saffas are an odd and quite unique lot. We are a conglomerate of lots of nations and we can hardly get along with each other, never mind the "enemy ". I think it's safe to say that all the South African posters like the fact that we have quite a bit of Kiwi posters on this site...even Beeno, CC and Plum.
On those 3, I don't always like how they operate and I don't condone racist behaviour at all, no matter what the reason for it. Having said that. CC and Plum were provoked. I think their responses were over the top, but it's not a one way street.
...and Beeno is Beeno....
No my friend - I can look again - but that penalty was nowhere near the AB 10 meter line if my memory serves me right. It was more or less ten meters from the Springbok tryline.
Chest heating?
Are we talking about the same penalty Mike?
The last one was taken quickly by Mounga inside our own half and rolled out inside the Boks' 22.
You're not making sense.