The MCG is a spectacular venue; it is, in fact, the best I've attended in terms of atmosphere. On the weekend however it was not a good place to be as the All Blacks didn't close-out a game they should have and Wallaby supporters are a pretty vocal bunch (particularly when they've won against all odds).
What went wrong? Nothing irredeemable frankly. Yes McAlister missed a tackle or two and so to did McCaw and Jack but our scrum dominated, their lineout was not so flash and, whereas that game is possibly a high-point for the Wallabies, it's most certainly is not for us.
I like the fact that Henry's not panicking and that perhaps it was 'the loss we needed to have'. Either way, the All Blacks should perform well in the next two games. It'd be great to see a settled 15*/22** with maybe only some experimentation around the centre pairing (a game each for Toeava and Smith) and the other lock.
* Carter's not up to his best and that's good. Carter's the best five eighth in the world and needs to peak in the final few games in October, not now.
** Buggered if I know who the best reserves are. Is Mealamu the reserve or is Oliver (depends on the opposition I suspect), is Flavell best off the bench as lock/blindside cover or is Thorne? What about Nonu - better than McAlister at 13, but not 12; better as a back up three-quarter but what about McDonald, Howlett, Sivivatu...
5 years ago
3 comments:
It shows, at least, that the two teams are competitively comparable. That's all you can ask in these kinds of games, isn't it? Walkovers are boring.
Cheers for the analysis; disappointing to hear the ABs lost though. Strange - I would have been glued to this game 4 or 5 years ago, but I must admit that I don't even realise that they're on these days...
Interesting that Flavell's back on the scene. I thought he was always a top player whenever he wasn't losing his rag and cheap-shotting people... usually right in front of the ref. Has he conquered that side of his game now?
And an interesting point about Nonu being used at number 12. For most of the time I watched rugby in NZ, there was a tendency to want a real 'crash-bang-wallop' player at second-five (in other words, yep, someone who is like a second centre... whereas I've always thought the back-line works better with a more subtle, tactical player in that position... someone like (and I'll be showing my age here) Bernie McCahill. I guess it's part of the 'modern age of rugby' to want bigger players in every position though e.g. I doubt Terry Wright would get a game in the modern All Black side either.
I'll shut up now because I suspect I'm sounding very T.P.McLean!
Crass, no - I simply want to win the RWC and don't frankly care if it's by 3 points to nil... thereafter I would like to see good close games...
Cheezy, I still pretty keen on seeing the tests though I've also let more than a few slide by with no serious side effects.
On your point about the second five eighth. I think it's a matter of who you're playing nowadays. Nonu will go to France because coming off the bench with 20 minutes to go, he is fantastic. But, he'll not start as the All Blacks still prefer the more deft game played by the likes of Mauger (or McAlister). The players who are like back-up first five eighths (particularly when Mauger has a right foot to rival Carter's left) but are also defensively very strong. Bernie wasn't bad, but should never have been picked over John Schuster (http://stats.allblacks.com/Profile.asp?ABID=773)
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