Go us ...
I'd rather the Foster farce lasts another couple of weeks and ends with us winning the Big Cup. ????
What are my final thoughts about this game?
Well, yesterday I was a bit sceptical of our prospects. Ireland is a very settled team. We know what they'll bring and it will be good. They will be fucking hard to beat.
The variable in this game is, though IMO - not to put too fine a point on it - whether we turn up a bit shit or very good. We're certainly less settled, with our best props missing much of the build-up, various others a bit under-cooked, and a few slightly odd choices at the end.
I looked at our team and I thought Fozzie'd made some fuck-ups, but on reflection - they may work out for the best and hopefully they're not terminal.
I'm mainly surprised at the prop selections and that we didn't have Ofa in the mix. Frankly, I was thinking we might start Ofa and Nepo with the under-cooked de Groot and Lomax off the bench
Given how under-cooked out starting props are - I would have at least gone with the veterans rather than the rookies - but, we're hopefully not going to have statues on the field for the final 30 minutes.
I wouldn't have picked Christie over Roigard, but we've been relatively successful with Finlay on the bench and I'm wondering what the biggest game Cam has played in that has been won.
I'm sure Telea would have played if he'd gone to bed early, but he and Leicester are very different players and who's to say which would've been more effective.
But, fuck all that.
We've got 14 of the starting 15 who Fozzie inscribed on his tablet many months ago - and Telea was a late addition.
We've got some firepower on the bench.
We've been building nicely into this match and, hopefully, the mood in the camp is a damn sight more positive than the Fern!
We're a lot better than we were when we lost last year. On paper, we're a lot better than the team that lost to France in the pre-lims.
Get out there and play hard and play accurately. Who dares wins!
Go us!
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Have spoken to a few Irish guys and they are absolutely packing bricks about this game. Reminds me so much of the RWC monkey we had on our backs. No doubt the players will also be feeling that. Well except for their New Zealanders.
No doubt, and going up against a team in the quarter that is renowned for being able to pile on a lot of points in a short space of time if they click will add to those nerves. We are bloody unpredictable!
@Bovidae said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@frugby Weber's passing has always been inconsistent too so I wouldn't be using that as a reason to select him over Roigard. Experience, yes. I think Roigard is the better kicker as well, even over Smith and Christie.
You say Weber's passing is inconsistent, but that is also an issue for Christie and Roigard, and in my opinion a much bigger issue.
Could Roigard have been a viable option? Maybe, but you'd have needed to give him big minutes v the Boks in AKL, and even then that wasn't really enough. Tough to blood a player in such a crucial position in a World Cup year.
9, 10 & 15 are your game drivers, who you need up to speed well in advance.
@No-Quarter said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Have spoken to a few Irish guys and they are absolutely packing bricks about this game. Reminds me so much of the RWC monkey we had on our backs. No doubt the players will also be feeling that. Well except for their New Zealanders.
No doubt, and going up against a team in the quarter that is renowned for being able to pile on a lot of points in a short space of time if they click will add to those nerves. We are bloody unpredictable!
The All Blacks have become the French of the 90s and 2000s
@mariner4life said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Wait, Mike catt is an Irish coach?
For a "nation" that has hatred for the English as a huge part of their identity, they don't half mind abandoning their principals if it might win them a footy game.
Mike Catt is as about as English as Bundee Aki is Irish
@mariner4life said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Wait, Mike catt is an Irish coach?
For a "nation" that has hatred for the English as a huge part of their identity, they don't half mind abandoning their principals if it might win them a footy game.
Poor bastards have got to try something.
Someone told me today that they've actually never won a Quarter-final match.
Never!
Who knew?
@Bones said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@kiwiinmelb said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
A bit like Wembley
Qué?
Wasnt aware I said that , it must’ve been a bit early
Twickenham was the word I was looking for I think ?
Alright fellas, I've hitched up the Black Caps bandwagon for tomorrow, she's looking pretty sturdy at this stage, 3/3 so far. To secure your spot, at full time head over to the Caps thread and start praising them as our real "national team", with comments like "who really cares about rugby anyway?". Spots will be limited so get in quick.
@nzzp no doubt. Carter was absolute water in some games leading into 2015.
@BerniesCorner said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Target; 2000 posts of shite and craic by kickoff.
@PecoTrain said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@BerniesCorner said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Target; 2000 posts of shite and craic by kickoff.
Living on a prayer is very appropriate for Foster's ABs
@Crazy-Horse said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Have spoken to a few Irish guys and they are absolutely packing bricks about this game. Reminds me so much of the RWC monkey we had on our backs. No doubt the players will also be feeling that. Well except for their New Zealanders.
I was thinking about how the Irish fans must be feeling. I am not surprised some are packing bricks. This is their time, but in the back of their minds they are playing the ABs. As pessimistic as I am about the ABs, I would be as nervous as fuck if I was Irish.
What are they worried about? Scott Barrett holding Sextons head against the ground when they are 15 points down and telling him that the only way he would make a RWC semifinal is as a ref?
@kiwiinmelb said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Crazy-Horse said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@kiwiinmelb said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Crazy-Horse said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@kiwiinmelb said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@nzzp said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@canefan said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Crazy-Horse said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I can't wait for this game to be over and we can flush the dunny and move on. But if we manage to win I will have mixed feelings. The following week(s) will be like a slow painful death after being given a glimmer of hope from the doctor. Just plain cruel.
Hope is the killer
Dropping a semi to Arg or Wal would be apex Foster and reflect where the team's at.
I'm living in optimism that BB has been looking after himself for the last 4 years to peak right now - kind of like Carter did back in '15. If he starts running hard and straight, he's a different player.
Annnnd it's the hope that kills ya
I’m living in optimism that first 20 minutes at mt smart is the type of rugby they have been keeping in their back pocket for now .
But yeah , I know , I’m probably dreaming .
Where the Boks played like crap and dropped everything that came their way?
Scoreboard pressure does that to teams
They were shit from the start.
One team was good , one wasn’t
A bit like Wembley
My guess is that all those English grounds look the same to you and you meant Twickenham?
@PecoTrain said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
What are they worried about? Scott Barrett holding Sextons head against the ground when they are 15 points down and telling him that the only way he would make a RWC semifinal is as a ref?
I hope Sam Cane has read that.
@No-Quarter said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Alright fellas, I've hitched up the Black Caps bandwagon for tomorrow, she's looking pretty sturdy at this stage, 3/3 so far. To secure your spot, at full time head over to the Caps thread and start praising them as our real "national team", with comments like "who really cares about rugby anyway?". Spots will be limited so get in quick.
Really? I heard seats are unlimited.
Go us ...
On Roigard: At the Italy game in Lyon we were at he and Smith were running through their warm up drills, right in front of us. Let me tell you that boy's pass off the deck is better than sex....crisp, clean, quick, and right on the mark...
The other added bonus he brings is his speed (could make up for a sluggish winger) and his instinct when he has the ball, he thinks on his feet, makes the right decision. Enormous potential.
@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Right.
I have 2 decent bottles of Single Malt arriving today. Do I get myself anesthetised before the game or after. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Go for it!!
@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Right.
I have 2 decent bottles of Single Malt arriving today. Do I get myself anesthetised before the game or after. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Both
@MiketheSnow said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Right.
I have 2 decent bottles of Single Malt arriving today. Do I get myself anesthetised before the game or after. Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Both
Typical pisshead...
I'm with you. Sure it's not the team I would pick but it's the team we have.
Give emm hell boys. Prove us all wrong and keep it going for one more week!
Also if the game plan they give you is total dog shit lock Fozzie in a cupboard at half time and let the old hands tell you what to do.