Post by berkley on Sept 7, 2024 23:16:02 GMT -5
Spoilers
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Ugly game. I thought the All Blacks played okay in the first half, but they struggled in the second forty. The most frustrating aspect of it was that South Africa didn't play that well in either test. Yet here we are, the first four test losing streak to the Boks since 1949 and the Boks win the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years. Plenty of things for the All Blacks to work on. They weren't humiliated on tour, but there are definite flaws.
Ugly game. I thought the All Blacks played okay in the first half, but they struggled in the second forty. The most frustrating aspect of it was that South Africa didn't play that well in either test. Yet here we are, the first four test losing streak to the Boks since 1949 and the Boks win the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years. Plenty of things for the All Blacks to work on. They weren't humiliated on tour, but there are definite flaws.
Just finished watching the game. yeah, I don't see a huge gap between the two sides At this point, I think they're mostly being out-coached, which may sound like a condemnation of Robertson but I'm willing to write it off for now as an inevitable adjustment period to a brand new coaching staff. But there are some things I just don't get - like leaving the front-rowers on the field until so late in the game, asking them to play against fresh legs when the team needs every edge they can get. In general I don't see the point of waiting until the last 10 minutes to sub someone.
But I thought there were a lot of encouraging signs for the All Blacks. Ratima didn't look out of place - nothing spectacular but no major screw-ups either, which is something for such a young player in that position. And Sititi, though he took a while to get going, was looking better and better as a the game progressed. I think he provided a significantly bigger attacking threat at no. 6 compared to Blackadder (I see I was wrong to assume they'd put him at 8 and move Savea).
On the negative side, no tries scored, which feels like a regression to the problems they were having on attack a few years ago, until they seemed to have straightened them out in the WC. Part of that may be adjusting to the new coaches so I think they deserve some leeway before passing judgement. I would like to see them give some of the new guys a look, though. Someone like Ruben Love might bring a little creativity to their attack, which they seem to be lacking at the moment. To me, now's the time to experiment with all the new guys, not the year before the WC when you'd hope they'd have all the bugs ironed out.