Bledisloe #2

nzzp

Is he still when there is such a stark difference in how the Wallabies have attacked and defended when White is on the park? I think the last two tests have shown the decline of Genia.

Nic White astounded me with the quality of his play. I have never seen himp lay like that; he was amazing. I wonder if the ABs were a bit surprised and let him run as a result ... even @NTA probably didn't have a game plan that revolved around trying to minimise the damage Nic was gonig to do.

Fair play to him, but he's been hiding that form for ages in his career. Well done to Cheika for getting him rolling

akan004

@canefan said in Bledisloe #2:

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

“Out-passioned”. A much used phrase, everyone talks about it, but no one really knows what the hell it is. One of the great enigmas of world sport.

We certainly didn't dominate the tackle area. Did aussie suddenly get bigger and stronger than us?

Sort of. The selection of Naisarani and LSL and the steady improvement of their locks (Rodda in particular)has made their pack a lot more physical and certainly bigger. Add in the decline of some of our guys (Franks and Moody) as well as the loss of BBBR and it's not a totally unexpected result.

barbarian

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

Is he still when there is such a stark difference in how the Wallabies have attacked and defended when White is on the park? I think the last two tests have shown the decline of Genia.

Hooper, White, Sio, Ala’alatoa, Hodge all better than Genia.

Genia was one of our best against Argentina, and won Man of the Match from memory.

We don't need to get into a rankings discussion necessarily, but I still think he's class. Played really well off the bench on Saturday, including setting up Beale's try.

nzzp

@barbarian said in Bledisloe #2:

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

Is he still when there is such a stark difference in how the Wallabies have attacked and defended when White is on the park? I think the last two tests have shown the decline of Genia.

Hooper, White, Sio, Ala’alatoa, Hodge all better than Genia.

Genia was one of our best against Argentina, and won Man of the Match from memory.

We don't need to get into a rankings discussion necessarily, but I still think he's class. Played really well off the bench on Saturday, including setting up Beale's try.

I still remember seeing him when he started for the Reds. Just had such a bullet pass, and outstanding timing and pace around the ruck. Magnificent player at his peak

Rancid Schnitzel

@nzzp said in Bledisloe #2:

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

Is he still when there is such a stark difference in how the Wallabies have attacked and defended when White is on the park? I think the last two tests have shown the decline of Genia.

Nic White astounded me with the quality of his play. I have never seen himp lay like that; he was amazing. I wonder if the ABs were a bit surprised and let him run as a result ... even @NTA probably didn't have a game plan that revolved around trying to minimise the damage Nic was gonig to do.

Fair play to him, but he's been hiding that form for ages in his career. Well done to Cheika for getting him rolling

Yep, I hate the Sqeak looking prick, but he was immense the other night. However, he was very good in the first test in 2015 and then not even selected for the RWC so let's hope history repeats itself.

ACT Crusader

@barbarian I actually thought the final 20 from White in that Pumas test, the Aussie attack really sped up. He was very good in the loss to the Boks as well probably Aussie’s best.

@nzzp he may not have performed like that with his limited Test opportunities prior, but he’s been playing well for Exeter and they have had a pretty good record since he went there.

nzzp

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

a pretty food record since he went there.

Typo of the day

ACT Crusader

@nzzp said in Bledisloe #2:

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

a pretty food record since he went there.

Typo of the day

And no mention of Kahui, SBW or Crotty

Donsteppa

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

@nzzp said in Bledisloe #2:

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe #2:

a pretty food record since he went there.

Typo of the day

And no mention of Kahui, SBW or Crotty

Or Franks & Moody.

shark

I have a foot in two camps: I can absolutely see merit in keeping the same side (sans S Barrett and Goodhue) and telling them to man up, but I also think there could be gains in shaking the team up as well. So I'd mix it up.

Pat T is a big soft fuck, so I'd bring Romano in for Barrett and this also benefits our close quarter ball running. But I'd leave the front row as-is because I think they're our best scrummagers and ultimately that's what they're there for. I think Coles will go nuts this weekend too so he starts again. I'm not convinced about the loose forward combination but much like the 10/15 experiment I think they're worth another go together.

In the backs it's the three-quarter line which presents all the issues. I'd retain A Smith, Mo'unga, ALB and Barrett, and bring in Ennor for Goodhue with SBW on the bench. I wouldn't like to see ALB moved to 13 as I think he's a 12 and he needs to bed in there. If they didn't think Ennor might be capable of starting a test at 13 they wouldn't have named him in the squad, and it's the most like-for-like change we can make there. Now on the wings, to be honest I'd like to drop both of them for simply being bloody anonymous or even poor, but I'm also wary of making too many changes and creating too much disruption to systems and stuff, so I'd fire a 10" shell across Ben Smiths' bow and in another like-for-like change bring in Bridge for Smith. My full team:

Moody
Coles
Franks
Romano
Whitelock
Savea
Cane
Read

A Smith
Mo'unga
Ioane
ALB
Ennor
Bridge
B Barrett

Angus T
Ofa T
Taylor
Pat T
Frizzell
Perenara
SBW
B Smith

Hooroo

@shark said in Bledisloe #2:

I have a foot in two camps: I can absolutely see merit in keeping the same side (sans S Barrett and Goodhue) and telling them to man up, but I also think there could be gains in shaking the team up as well. So I'd mix it up.

Pat T is a big soft fuck, so I'd bring Romano in for Barrett and this also benefits our close quarter ball running. But I'd leave the front row as-is because I think they're our best scrummagers and ultimately that's what they're there for. I think Coles will go nuts this weekend too so he starts again. I'm not convinced about the loose forward combination but much like the 10/15 experiment I think they're worth another go together.

In the backs it's the three-quarter line which presents all the issues. I'd retain A Smith, Mo'unga, ALB and Barrett, and bring in Ennor for Goodhue with SBW on the bench. I wouldn't like to see ALB moved to 13 as I think he's a 12 and he needs to bed in there. If they didn't think Ennor might be capable of starting a test at 13 they wouldn't have named him in the squad, and it's the most like-for-like change we can make there. Now on the wings, to be honest I'd like to drop both of them for simply being bloody anonymous or even poor, but I'm also wary of making too many changes and creating too much disruption to systems and stuff, so I'd fire a 10" shell across Ben Smiths' bow and in another like-for-like change bring in Bridge for Smith. My full team:

Moody
Coles
Franks
Romano
Whitelock
Savea
Cane
Read

A Smith
Mo'unga
Ioane
ALB
Ennor
Bridge
B Barrett

Angus T
Ofa T
Taylor
Pat T
Frizzell
Perenara
SBW
B Smith

I agree, I would keep the front row too. Franks has only ever been a scrum go to guy so I don't see why we should expect anything different

KiwiMurph

Romano from a few years ago would be a good call - 2019 Romano? No thanks.

He barely played for the Crusaders this year and when he did play he wasn't very effective at all.

Hemopo needs to be in the 23. His workrate would be very useful.

nzzp

@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe #2:

Hemopo needs to be in the 23. His workrate would be very useful.

I'll be surprised if we don't see the biggest, nastiest 6 we've got rolled out. I just don't know who that is ... maybe Hemopo?

Crucial

@nzzp said in Bledisloe #2:

@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe #2:

Hemopo needs to be in the 23. His workrate would be very useful.

I'll be surprised if we don't see the biggest, nastiest 6 we've got rolled out. I just don't know who that is ... maybe Hemopo?

If that's what you want then Squire is probably the best go.

Machpants

@Crucial Yeah be interestingif he comes back in the squad. I guess he won't, but we need some mongrel

canefan

@Crucial said in Bledisloe #2:

@nzzp said in Bledisloe #2:

@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe #2:

Hemopo needs to be in the 23. His workrate would be very useful.

I'll be surprised if we don't see the biggest, nastiest 6 we've got rolled out. I just don't know who that is ... maybe Hemopo?

If that's what you want then Squire is probably the best go.

His head doesn't appear to be in it, if not then he's out

KiwiMurph

I can't see them bringing in anyone from outside the Bledisloe squad for this weekend (e.g. Squire, Frizell etc)

canefan

Its getting pretty late in preparations to still be tinkering with the final squad

nzzp

@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe #2:

I can't see them bringing in anyone from outside the Bledisloe squad for this weekend (e.g. Squire, Frizell etc)

if the coaches are good, they'll get a performance out of Pat T. On form, he was very good, but has been off the pace for a couple of years.

Angry Akira would be good here too, but I can't see that happening for a variety of reasons.

after that I think we're struggling ... Romano at his best would be a lock, but he seems to have peaked at Mitre 10 and solid Super for a while. Don't know if he has the step up left in him

Old Samurai Jack

@nzzp Angry Akira couldn't keep his place in the Maori team for obvious reasons. I can't believe people are still bringing his name in the conversation this year.

The Silver Fern

Bledisloe #2