What Changes for Bledisloe 2?

@rotated said in Bledisloe #2:

@Yeetyaah said in Bledisloe #2:

Ah okay. I thought it'd be points difference or something. Cheers fellas.

I'm pretty sure the 2009 French series ended on points difference after finishing 1-1. It was the first time anyone new there was a trophy up for grabs and that points difference was how it was decided.

Yup different then the bled, and Henry knew but didn't tell the troops. Weepu was not happy afterwards

@Machpants Yeah didn't they need like 4 more points than what they actually scored?

All Blacks by twinty

Owen Franks has to go.
George Bridge to 14 to replace Ben Smith or Ben Smith to 15 and Barrett to 10.

Big problem is Hansen has stuck with certain players too long and their replacements are really inexperienced or not quite up to standard in some way.

Would be nice to have Akira Ioane as an option right now. (at least for a bit of go-forward)

@NTA said in Bledisloe #2:

All Blacks by twinty

Surely we're the underdogs now?

Didnt Chieka throw up the white flag in 2015 heading to EP after winning B1?

@nzzp said in Bledisloe #2:

@NTA said in Bledisloe #2:

All Blacks by twinty

Surely we're the underdogs now?

Good fucking luck getting another red card. It's Jaco.

@rotated Outstanding work by the ? and Kevin Mealamu in the lead-up to that first try.

I'd suggest they go with something like:

Moody
Taylor
Tu'ungafasi (we probably need more from the props)
Tuipolotou (assuming we don't have Barrett)
Whitelock
Fifita
Cane
Read
Smith
Barrett
Bridge
SBW
ALB (assuming we don't have Goodhue)
Ioane
Smith

Moli
Coles
Ta'avao
Romano
Savea
TJP
Mo'unga
Laumape

Sparky's team (asuming Goodhue injured)

Moody
Coles
Laulala
Whitelock
Romano
Savea
Cane
Read
Smith
Mo'unga
Ioane
Laumape
ALB
Havili (Bridge if he can't be drafted in)
B Barrett
Taylor, Ofa T, Franks, Patrick T, Jacobson, TJP, SBW, Bridge or Ennor

@sparky if you drafted in Romano why not Havili too...

@No-Quarter a lot to like about that. If we adjust our tactics what do we do with the front row. Not mobile, poor hands, passive on ruck d (team issue) but good at scrum time? We have to hope that these guys will get better.

Absolute Do or Die game this one. Time for the team to deliver and show that holding on to a cup that New Zealand have held since 2002 matters to this side and their management.

@kev said in Bledisloe #2:

@No-Quarter a lot to like about that. If we adjust our tactics what do we do with the front row. Not mobile, poor hands, passive on ruck d (team issue) but good at scrum time? We have to hope that these guys will get better.

There’s no easy answer at prop. Moody has been disappointing as he has been good with ball in hand in the past but that part of his game has dropped away. Franks has never been a ball runner. I’m no expert in the dark arts but I’d lean towards someone that can offer more with ball in hand as we need to be making more inroads up the middle.

@No-Quarter Yep spot on if we go that way we have impact from the bench which will be devastating.We badly need a hard hitting ball carrier at 6.

A lot of it is mindset. No more fancy throw it wide stuff. Concentrate on hammering the aussies up the guts and choking them to death. Then we can swing it wide

@canefan said in Bledisloe #2:

A lot of it is mindset. No more fancy throw it wide stuff. Concentrate on hammering the aussies up the guts and choking them to death. Then we can swing it wide

Sounds similar to the U10's coaching manual, perhaps we could get a copy to Foster and co.

@sparky Like your team for the most part. Only changes I would make to it is to bring in Ennor for Havili (need pace on the wing) and a bigger blindside for Ardie. Maybe Squire gets the nod but fuck we are lacking options there. Will start Cane due to his physicality on defence, and bring Ardie off the bench early in the 2nd half.

@No-Quarter said in Bledisloe #2:

Thoughts?

What you said.

@Yeetyaah said in Bledisloe #2:

Ah okay. I thought it'd be points difference or something. Cheers fellas.

It comes down to how many boundaries hit

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/114916885/all-blacks-lose-jack-goodhue-ahead-of-bledisloe-cup-rematch-in-auckland

@Duluth Laumape to 12 and ALB to 13.

@Yeetyaah said in Bledisloe #2:

@Duluth Laumape to 12 and ALB to 13.

Laumape had a very good game last night, he's earned a chance. I wonder if Hansen will channel his inner Gary Stead and pick Sonny

@Duluth Hopefully it's a grade 1 strain only, we can't afford to lose anymore of our starting 15 to injury.

@canefan said in Bledisloe #2:

@Yeetyaah said in Bledisloe #2:

@Duluth Laumape to 12 and ALB to 13.

Laumape had a very good game last night, he's earned a chance. I wonder if Hansen will channel his inner Gary Stead and pick Sonny

I thought he was as average as everyone else and he really needed to play his hard and straight bashing style and didn't.

@Nepia said in Bledisloe #2:

@canefan said in Bledisloe #2:

@Yeetyaah said in Bledisloe #2:

@Duluth Laumape to 12 and ALB to 13.

Laumape had a very good game last night, he's earned a chance. I wonder if Hansen will channel his inner Gary Stead and pick Sonny

I thought he was as average as everyone else and he really needed to play his hard and straight bashing style and didn't.

At least he fronted up on D at a time when we were leaking like a sieve. Shag knows what he gets with Sonny. At the same time I can see him playing Sonny if he is the more solid option in a game we really want to win

@canefan said in Bledisloe #2:

@Nepia said in Bledisloe #2:

@canefan said in Bledisloe #2:

@Yeetyaah said in Bledisloe #2:

@Duluth Laumape to 12 and ALB to 13.

Laumape had a very good game last night, he's earned a chance. I wonder if Hansen will channel his inner Gary Stead and pick Sonny

I thought he was as average as everyone else and he really needed to play his hard and straight bashing style and didn't.

At least he fronted up on D at a time when we were leaking like a sieve. Shag knows what he gets with Sonny. At the same time I can see him playing Sonny if he is the more solid option in a game we really want to win

Agree with that.

@Billy-Tell said in [Bledisloe #2]

We've lost to Australia and still done fine in the RWC (2011, 2015). We've also thrashed Australia and got knocked out of the RWC (2003). I'm all for not showing a complete hand, but winning with a little bit of style would be reassuring, given our only other match before SA in Japan is Tonga.

The year in question is 1991. That's what it looks like to me. A tiring team, and coaches without a clue about how to arrest the slide.

So we'll scrape a win, and the over-optimistic will think we're back on track.

There was always going to be a drop off from the 2015 team. On current evidence it appears that the coaches have not been able to adequately plug the gaps

@canefan said in Bledisloe #2:

At least he fronted up on D at a time when we were leaking like a sieve. Shag knows what he gets with Sonny. At the same time I can see him playing Sonny if he is the more solid option in a game we really want to win

I think SBW was always going to play at Eden Park once he was sent back to play for C-M. ALB and Laumape have spent the most time together in these 3 tests, which probably means SBW starts.

One of the things that I kept swearing at was ALB crabbing for then BB straightening it up (well too) lumape and ALB should be straightening it up releasing BB to carve up.

I expect the midfield to be SBW at 12, ALB at 13 and Laumape off the bench.

@Hooroo said in Bledisloe #2:

One of the things that I kept swearing at was ALB crabbing for then BB straightening it up (well too) lumape and ALB should be straightening it up releasing BB to carve up.

I thought him doing that was a reflection of how shit the ball was that he was getting, he was often well behind the advantage line with an advancing defensive line so he crabbed to look for a hole.

@Nepia said in Bledisloe #2:

@Hooroo said in Bledisloe #2:

One of the things that I kept swearing at was ALB crabbing for then BB straightening it up (well too) lumape and ALB should be straightening it up releasing BB to carve up.

I thought him doing that was a reflection of how shit the ball was that he was getting, he was often well behind the advantage line with an advancing defensive line so he crabbed to look for a hole.

Obviously he was but he still should have just straightened it up as we always ended up
Well back

@Hooroo

To be fair to ALB, he wasn't getting good ball a lot of the time when the AB backline was under a lot of pressure (much of the time). That sort of thing happens when you muck about with the 10-13 positions game after game after game.

Thought he did some outstanding tidying up and linking work, particularly in the 2nd half

Thinking Bled 2 and it's all a bit ying and yang.

Thought we played pretty well for much of the 2nd half. There were periods where we looked snappy, fluid and mistake-free. Reminded me of 2015. Read and Ioane look to be getting back into form as well.

But the ABs seem to have lost the ability to bounce back after a loss or a poor, narrow win. You wonder if there's something not quite right with the team's collective mindset.

@akan004 said in Bledisloe #2:

@Duluth Hopefully it's a grade 1 strain only, we can't afford to lose anymore of our starting 15 to injury.

My understanding is that the higher the hamstring strain the trickier it can be get right.

@Crazy-Horse said in Bledisloe #2:

@akan004 said in Bledisloe #2:

@Duluth Hopefully it's a grade 1 strain only, we can't afford to lose anymore of our starting 15 to injury.

My understanding is that the higher the hamstring strain the trickier it can be get right.

Great, more good news.?

@No-Quarter said in Bledisloe #2:

Now that I’ve had some time to reflect, I’m a little more positive about our chances, though I am far from convinced we should be favourites for the cup given our form leading into it.

SB’s red card cost us the chance of winning that test. Yes we got dominated in the first 40, more so than usual. But that wouldn’t be the first time we’ve weathered the storm, kept the scoreboard close and then finished stronger.

Credit to the Wallabies, they didn’t let up and they didn’t panic when Beauden dotted down after by far our best passage of play. They exploited the numerical advantage, particularly around the fringes and really made us pay for SB’s brain fart. But I would expect any of the top sides to do that; bottom line is we will get pumped if we lose a player early in the game as we’re back in the pack now. The same is true for the other top sides.

We do have the cattle to go all the way, and a win against SA in pool play will give us a pretty easy run to the semi, but we need to get our tactics right.

Given we will never blow teams away in the first 40 I’d like to see us be more conservative with both selections and gameplan.

That means keeping the ball in hand more and using our forwards to hit it up around the fringes in the early exchanges. Wear teams down even if we’re not scoring tries.

Selection wise we need to start Taylor and TJP, move Beauden back to 10 and put our most experienced back BFA at 15 where decision making and defence will be important. A rookie like Ennor or at 14 is not a huge risk. Cane should start at 7 with Ardie on the bench, and a big bopper at 6 (Frizell, Jacobson or Squire, they just need to go hard for 50 odd minutes).

Then in the second 40 we can roll out Coles, A Smith, Aridie and Mo’unga to really up the tempo - those 4 blokes coming on at the 50-60 minute mark can provide us a massive point of difference. I don’t think any other team could boast that level of class and impact off the bench when defenses are tiring.

This 2nd Bledisloe is a great chance for us to adjust our game plan and play more to our strengths.

Thoughts?

I think they definitely need to start with TJP. It's obvious how the top opposition sides are going to play against us now and his bulk and physicality will be essential in the early stages. Once the game breaks up and the forwards tire is the perfect time to bring on the smaller guy with the brilliant pass.