ABs Autumn Tour

[J Dory]

Teams:

England: 1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George (c) 3. Will Stuart 4. Maro Itoje 5. George Martin 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 7. Tom Curry 8. Ben Earl 9. Ben Spencer 10. Marcus Smith 11. Tommy Freeman 12. Ollie Lawrence 13. Henry Slade 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 15. George Furbank

Bench: 16. Theo Dan 17. Fin Baxter 18. Dan Cole 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. Ben Curry 21. Alex Dombrandt 22. Harry Randall 23. George Ford

All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Scott Barrett (Captain), 5. Tupou Vaa’i, 6. Wallace Sititi, 7. Sam Cane, 8. Ardie Savea (Vice-Captain), 9. Cortez Ratima, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Caleb Clarke, 12. Jordie Barrett (Vice-Captain), 13. Rieko Ioane, 14. Mark Tele’a, 15. Will Jordan.

Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Pasilio Tosi, 19. Patrick Tuipulotu, 20. Samipeni Finau, 21. Cam Roigard, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Damian McKenzie.

[J Dory]

Looks like a good team, maybe only Ioane slightly lucky to be there, hopefully he can get more space with Barrett running the show.

[J Dory]

Missed bits of the game but what i did see, ABs looked a bit panicked a lot of the time, pushing passes and miracle offloads. Credit to Englands defense, they stopped the ball getting to the wing very effectively, the response was to kick it in behind. Feels like the ABs are missing some midfield penetration, #bringbackNonu

[canta_brian]

The lack of discipline was a worry. Lots of pressure relieving for the English

[Cameo]

Missed bits of the game but what i did see, ABs looked a bit panicked a lot of the time, pushing passes and miracle offloads. Credit to Englands defense, they stopped the ball getting to the wing very effectively, the response was to kick it in behind. Feels like the ABs are missing some midfield penetration, #bringbackNonu

Agree, but isn't looking a bit panicky the price you pay for taking the risks needed to beat a rush defence? It won't pay off all the time and will lead to annoying mistakes, but their attack did create chances.

[paddy no 11]

Good win for nz

Backrow, front row and roigard decent

[J Dory]

yep, really happy with that, Ireland looked rusty, no doubt will come back better, but ABs were in control from start to finish

[J Dory]

still feel our midfield back combo is off, defensively solid, but lacking on attack

[paddy no 11]

yep, really happy with that, Ireland looked rusty, no doubt will come back better, but ABs were in control from start to finish

The cupboard is a bit bare for Ireland
Sheehan 2 is not replacable
Our backline already has 3 kiwis in it, 2 are up on age and one poser
Our bomb squad had 4 guys 35 or older all well past it
No up and coming props
Our backs coach has apparently failed upwards and our coach is off to the lions
We'll be competitive but will be handing back the world no 1 spot and we'll drop to 4th 5th

[Cameo]

Yeah, that's taken me by surprise. I have been wondering why they are persevering with O'Mahony, but didn't realise Aki is even older and there are a few others in that range. Even VDF and Keenan are older than I thought.

[paddy no 11]

It's definitely part of why Ireland fail at world cups, too many fellas at 32 getting full 4 year contracts and irfu keep playing them even when it's obvious they are past it. Darcy and bod were 2-3 years past it before being replaced. Sexton (38) unable to move playing against nz for 80 minutes etc

[J Dory]

Jamison Gibson-Park was possibly the best player on the ... park ... on Friday. Not showing any signs of decline yet for me.

[J Dory]

I dunno, when have a team of young dudes ever won the RWC?

[J Dory]

ABs vs France:

The teams
France: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Gabin Villiere, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Gregory Aldritt, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Tevita Tatafu, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Charles Ollivon, 22 Nolann le Garrec, 23 Emilen Gailleton

New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Damian McKenzie

[Which Tyler]

Should be the match of the month.
Allez Les Bleus !

[canta_brian]

Should be the match of the month.
Allez Les Bleus !

Allez Les bleus? There is a French board!

[Which Tyler]

There's no-one there.

Not that there was anyone here.

Besides, since when was rugby segregated?

[Which Tyler]

Kiwi commentators are far more convinced than I am that the French are unfit

[Which Tyler]

Oof, now that's a kick in les knackers

[paddy no 11]

NZ are back baby! Well up front at least

[canta_brian]

All square. All to play for

[Which Tyler]

Wow

Not just the try, but... The entire 2nd half to date

[paddy no 11]

This is what world cup finals should be like

[Which Tyler]

I'm utterly exhausted.
Watching from.my.bed

[paddy no 11]

Amazing match, as good as I can recall in recent memory

Amukashvilli was man of the match there

The absolute guts on ardie savea to chase back against bierre biery on the 78th minute ,unreal