RWC 2019

[LeRouxIsPHat]

So... Kick pass to the right wing v SA?

Hope Ross Byrne is close by his phone!

[fourthirtythree]

And Adam.

[Oldschool]

The other teams watching NZ v SA won't be disappointed with what they saw.

[paddyor]

....
Ask yourself this question, what did Rassie achieve with Munster that makes you think he has suddenly managed to turn SA into NZ beaters.
......

That's exactly what they looked like.

[dropkick]

I thought TJ Perenara made a difference for NZ. They looked more composed with him on the pitch.


The game went as I expected though I though NZ would have attacked better. They defended well though. Kept their discipline too.


SA only scored an opportunist try. They're very reliant on Kolbe and their kicks causing a bit of mayhem. Don't expect anything different if we meet them. PSDT and Kolbe were very good for them.

[Oldschool]

Nightmare scenario.
NZ v SA final.

[nc6000]

Nightmare scenario.
NZ v SA final.

This is the most likely final pairing according to the bookies. They also have NZ and SA as odds-on to make it to the semis which isn't good for us.

I'd love us to get past the quarter final as it guarantees us two further games and keeps us involved right the end. But winning a quarter final and losing in the semi would be tough to take. Not sure what I'd do if we made the final.

[Twist]

Based on today I think SA are a lesser version of what England do.


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[wixfjord]

They haven't got any of the attacking finesse that England do either (Ford, Farrell, Slade even Billy V with his hands plus the Sarries screen attacking structure).

Still think they could blow us away physically, particularly if we take a few pack injuries or stick to the backrow that's starting tomorrow.

But if we reach the QF intact without any key players down then we can take them on better than NZ.

I think starting Aki at 12 and Henshaw at 13 would be a bad choice against SA though. Would play right into their hands. You saw this morning how NZ were constantly trying to get the ball around or over the press and when they did they made hay. We can either do that through kicking or passing and I think Henshaw at 12 and Ringrose at 13 gives you a better chance of doing that. De Allende and Am aren't a top quality centre pairing either.

[Twist]

I can see the logic of that alright

But it’s a long way to that QF. I seem to be on my own but I’m not feeling confident about tomorrow


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[MylesNaGapoleen]

some good games this morning.
fiji should give wales a good lash...I fancy Fiji to make it through from that pool over wales.
NZ got a few lucky breaks and took em...fair play..they missed retalick.
felt sorry for Argentina. thought they did enough to take france. Eng & Fra to come out of that pool...no doubt. Unless there's a typhoon on the 26th when england play america. no rescheduled game...0-0 draw is called.
Dreading tomorrow morning for the IRL V SCO game. hope we're up for it.
picking up the coverage from ITV..glad they are showing all the games but jayziz, the commentary/punditry is poor. not at inverdale level but close.

[Ruckedtobits]

DAY TWO SUMMARY
Ledesmo and Rassie the only ones who may feel disappointed. In both cases because when they wrestled back momentum into their games, they didn't take their scoring opportunities enough to get the result they might have deserved.

LESSON NO.1
In big games, any serious team will have a period where they develop momentum. During that time you must score points, of any sort, to optimise your momentum.

John McKee (Fiji) and Jacques Brunel (France) both did some work on their defensive maul and their teams were able to resist the initial pressure from Australia and Argentina respectively. However, as the pressure from the attacking mauls grew, the techniques of defenders loosened and discipline broke down with the very evident consequences.

LESSON NO. 2
The Pack Leader must remind the forwards at each defensive line-out to stick to their role and work together on what they've rehearsed. Ireland have a good defensive maul but they must remain on script. Referees appear to be giving more leniency to attackers in the maul.

Subject to confirmation from the Official Stats, the only common universal stat from today's winners was that each of them, and Japan yesterday, conceded less penalties than their losing opponents. No consistency among winners on Possession, Territory, Set-pieces, Metres Gained. Only Penalties.

LESSON NO. 3
Do not concede penalties needlessly.

[Peg Leg]

Looked like it alright. He’s a big loss and Fiji 9 kicked away turn over ball and led to Australia second try. Really had them on the run up until that, but those are 2 key moments. I’d have thought they needed to have everything go their way here in order to win ...it’s not, but Fiji can still do this.

That and a few blind eyes to forward passes and crooked lineout's

[Morf]

The refereeing has been astonishingly bad in every game so far. Garces has mostly been good but the decision not to give SA a card was a shocker. As others have said, there must be an edict to keep players on the field.

Wouldn't agree on Garces. Rucks were a free for all.
NZ regularly got turn over/penalties through numbers and doing whatever they liked.
Lots of hands in rucks, holding on and one ruck clean out that was about 15 degrees on the SA side.
There was a chorus of "in the side" that I'm sure Garces just shrugged and ignored.

[IanD]

For all the Japanese reputation for efficiency they do struggle to get a stretcher on the pitch.

[Twist]

Well, I was worried about that but needn’t have been. That was as comfortable as a nice pair of jammies.


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[Fireworks]

I have a crazy theory. Really crazy.....

Any chance that Toner is left home to get fit and will be parachuted as an *injury* replacement late in the pool to be fresh and ready for the QF.

[wixfjord]

I have a crazy theory. Really crazy.....

Any chance that Toner is left home to get fit and will be parachuted as an *injury* replacement late in the pool to be fresh and ready for the QF.

Ahead of who?

Kleyn is there for two things - bulk against Samoa and a potential QF against SA.

Dev wasn't picked, I don't think we need conspiracy theories to say why!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

For all the talk about NZ being poor recently (and I've been saying it myself and was far from blown away by them yesterday) it now looks like they have a very handy route to the semi final. They could well have Retallick with a game under his belt against Scotland and have time to iron out a few other kinks. They're going to be very hard to stop.

[FLIP]

For all the talk about NZ being poor recently (and I've been saying it myself and was far from blown away by them yesterday) it now looks like they have a very handy route to the semi final. They could well have Retallick with a game under his belt against Scotland and have time to iron out a few other kinks. They're going to be very hard to stop.

I personally think Scotland may get mugged by Japan. And Japan at a home world cup may just have chance on their side against nz.