Looking more like the All Blacks we know. Glad we dodged them in the quarters!
Looking more like the All Blacks we know. Glad we dodged them in the quarters!
They are on fire
it's Italy...
Putting 40 points on Italy in one half is good.
Looking good in the first half. This is what we used to expect and it is good to see them playing well again!
looking good indeed..., but I don't get the Roigard hype...
Wow, the AB scrum looks good!
This is a performance that will have the Irish quaking in their boots 
I still don't understand why the Boks aren't starting first-choice teams like all the other countries.
These teams are building up to peak for the knockout stages, while the Boks have played more B-team players than first-choice players.
Messing around with a stagnant Middlefield of Kriel and Delande just depends on the forward domination and backline defense. Only Willie Leroux can get the ball to the wing, and he was not even in the match-day squad against Ireland.
The Boks need to use the inside backs that are starting this weekend against France, with Libbok coming on in the 2nd half.
All Blacks need to get 100 points. That might be the highest score so far in the WC?
No injuries or cards. Well done ABs!
There was an energy about the ABs today that was missing against the Boks and France. On this form NZ will beat Ireland and after that the Semi, probably against Wales should be no problem. South Africa’s presence in the final is also a bit more questionable….good news for the ABs because Bok forward power is always the biggest risk to a NZ win.
I was encouraged to see the forwards do so well in line outs & scrums. The Italian pack were reputed to be good but they didn’t show up today. This was a game where most things went right for the ABs but we have seen what happens when the opposition starve the ABs of ball & dominate territory. They wait for penalties & build score board pressure. That’s when things go wrong for the ABs & there are still questions about how we will do then - much tougher games ahead!
Stop waffling JW.
Near faultless display from the ABs but Italy chucked the towel in after 20 minutes which is a shame. Problem for the ABs is they really need a hard game prior to a possible QFinal vs Ireland and I don’t think they will get that against Uruguay.
I think Oirland are shitting it a bit right now.
Felt too sorry for Italy to watch the entire game.
As predicted by Beeno the wee abs hammered Italy. As I said before the match the Abs are capable if beating Ireland. As I said then there are 4 teams that can win this. 2 of these items will be eliminated in the quarter finals.
Our best players have not played 80 minutes in every test. What poor sharktwit fails to understand is that if you are to go all the way this is a very long tournament. Being relatively fresh come the final will be an advantage.
The Boks will either go out in the quartets or will make the final. That applies to all four teams. Rassie will pick what he believes is his best match 23. That will be a very interesting selection as from then on it will only be a few adjustment here and there.
Congrats to the wee abs they are certainly back in the comp.
However neither Ireland, South Africa, France nor NZ can be certain shi uns for the semis.
The French will be pumped up like never before. That may count against them. Who knows.
The quarters are going to be epic. 8 strongly advise our emotionally unstable here like Corny King and Deus to take their tranquilizers.
Doubtless Mozz and Deus are working on how Allende, DuToit, Malherbe and Kolisi cost us the game or we would have done better without them. They are considering how best to smear Rassie, looking for new angles as the old tropes have failed.
Its all so predictable with these two.
It would be hilarious to see what these two will say if we were to win out 4th Cup!. I fear Deus would have a nervous breakdown
But first we need 5 points against TONGA. We also don't need any injuries to front line players. That could change all calculations. The Marx loss has illustrated how important your World class players are. Our pack is not the same without him. Period.
As always another huge concern is a biased/incompetent ref. The last ref cost us a win over Ireland.
Beeno as always the voice of sanity, reason and finely tuned balance.
Could we be looking at a Bok/wee abs final. That would be EPIC!
In your finely tuned balance you forgot the possibility of cards.
Stop waffling JW.
JW is not wafling - HE IS STATING FACT.
We have seen nothing in the the italian game that gives Kiwis confidence other than the NIL CARDS which is a major surprise.
This AB team can beat anyone if they are allowed to dominate - OPERATIVE WORDS - ALLOWED TO DOMINATE.
Again Foster alerted to where his head is at - And the concern is - He thinks all teams should be playing like the AB's against Italy - However he has never understood that when the top teams are hding the ball from the AB's and dominating - Foster has never learnt that a team cannot play with out the ball - So his tactical plan is completly flawed.
it is all well and good Foster opening his mouth and stating that the rugby world has to decide what game they want to play going forward - However - Other international teams have different strengths to the AB's and and unfortunately for us possession is the number 1 rule in rugby and Foster has his head up his arse thinking it is not.
The two things that the AB's needed to achieve against Italy were - To Win and get a good points differential and they managed to do that but dominance like that would not be achieved against Ireland or the Boks even if they only had 4 forwards on the park.
Playing an open game against Ireland or the Boks is not achieveable and when the abs are pressured they start making the mistakes that cost them matches - Foster has only worked out half the jigsaw in the puzzle - Thats why the AB's suddently have a very poor record over the last 4 years.
And this has never been acceptable to Kiwis - The current standard is way off the mark.
It probably looks like a sutuation whereby Foster only has two matches left as AB coach - Thank god it is ending and he is being replaced by Razor who believes in forward dominance.
New Zealanders know what the problem is but it is being proved time and again that Foster and the rugby union don't.
@Black&Red,
Steve Hanson is a much better coach than Foster, but as bad as Foster is, his forward pack is not as good as Hansens.
Towards the end of the long era of Hanson, the All Black team was starting to look beatable.
The All Black forwards also started to give away more penalties when it was getting dominated.
The All Blacks were winning games with 40% possesion because of Beuden Barrets play at flyhalf where he was still able to attack on backfoot ball, and the counter attacking skills of the backs.
When Ireland beat the All Blacks in America, it was clear that the All Black pack was not as good as it was. The form of Retalick was directly linked to the results of the All Blacks. When Retalick is injured, the All Blacks struggled.
Based on the performance against Italiy, it looks like the All Blacks have upped the physcaility of the pack. Retalick's impact (like Marx) is apparent, even when they dont have standout individual performances. Frizzel is also physical in the mould of a Liam Messam. Combined with Savea - it is a good physical backrow. Cane is ok, but the openside is still up for grabs.
The All Blacks have just been going through a dry spell of new tight forward talent with physicality.
I am sure the next All Black coach will make more of the current squad, but the tight five is an issue with an aging Retalick and Whitelock. Barrett is ok at lock, but not in the league.
Australias pack is pathetic and not physical enough to compete in test rugby- it does not matter who the coach is.
The ABs easily overpowered the Boks in the RC for 80 minutes. They have had a physical edge over us for a long time. The Boks don't field a power pack. We usually have Etzebeth and Wiese as the only muscle in the forwards and some appearances by Snyman. The Bok defence is soft, structureless, unintimidating, passive, unintelligent, and poorly coached.
This Italy side have the Boks big problems until Kwagga broke them open. They also nearly beat France. They are not exactly weak. It was a good marker for NZ. I said midweek that this game would show us what kind of character the Kiwis have.
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Just turned it on a few minutes ago, and the ABS are looking good. Forward pack is providing good ball to the backs