They're playing under NFL rules

Thanks Kid A

Farking ludicrous. One rule for them, one for the rest of us.

Streetwise, couldn't agree more...

Snecky could have broken his jaw with that elbow to the face

Has Beale been cited yet?

Too many games in Chicago.

Nice to see Savea blitz the two Aussie opensides also

Oh please. Keep drinking from that lovely bottle of Chateau Loser you've popped open.

they seem to have a cellar full in Aus but love drinking it. Their drink of choice

Beale elbowing Smith viciously and then taking a flailing dive also cleared the line for the faster chasing Wallaby. There is no point going on about it though, complaining is demeaning and won't achieve anything.

We should be calling them the Chicago Bears

It has always been like that

To be honest, it is one of the "secrets to All Blacks success" - we are taught the rules at a young age and shown how to use them to our advantage. We were told to run those sorts of legal supporting lines to impede the opposition chasers from about the age of 8.

You’d be right if the support runner hadn’t run away from the ball carrier to collide with the defender who was catching up.

For an old man you sure are a giant f**king crybaby.

As spiritual guardians of the game and the ultimate professionals they thoroughly deserve a little favouritism.

The TMO had no issue.

Imagine impartial viewers surprise to this...

Pfft.

More New England Patriots than Chicago Bears,if we’re going down that road.

Which we aren’t.

I think that’s the point a few posters have made.

You have every right to move further away from the ball carrier - in fact more often than not you do when following up a break, regardless of whether or not you are intending to block a defender, as you're often too close to give the breaking player much of an option/put defense in two minds. In this case, Smith was way too close to Smith to receive a useful pass, so he would have had to move across at some point. That obviously isn't why he ran that line, but it is why he had a right to run it.

What's so impressive about the ABs, is that they just appear to be much fitter than every team they play. It's astonishing really, they're all professional athletes, who train constantly for a high level of fitness, yet the ABs appear to be 30/40% fitter.

I reckon they must have some groundbreaking fitness techniques. I can't think of another possible explanation.

New Zealand is a very hilly country and everyone walks everywhere from a very early age.

Obviously.

The Lions, impossibly exhausted from an extremely long season and a brutal tour of NZ, outpointed and outlasted the All Blacks in the final quarter of every test on last year’s tour. It’s almost as though they had international quality reserves coming off the bench, or something.

The ABs manage their players workloads throughout the season better than any other nation, apart from perhaps the currently resurgent Irish. It’s almost as though they’re not playing 30+ games of rugby and appear fitter at the end of the game, or something

There is that and also superior emotional intelligence means that as a people we don’t waste important energy with unproductive festering over perceived injustices. We simply use energy more efficiently and make better decisions under pressure through blue-head thinking, it is a remarkable and self perpetuating competitive advantage.

I would suggest they are about 50% more intelligent than the Aussies

Tell that to Snecky.

I think the fitness level argument is somewhat of a myth quite frankly, all players are subject to beep tests etc. Happy to believe the bench plays the biggest part, its constant pressure particularly past the 60 min mark and the fact that all the players are on the same page when they take to the field. Could be wrong though...

Hate to say it, they're just better athlete dietitians.

Agreed

Keep it to the match thread

The difference on the weekend was the ABs kept it simple and did simple passes and nothing too risky, and took their opportunities when they came, compared to Aus who tried hero passes every time they touched the ball. Fulools speculative nightmare is a perfect example, but Foley threw three three man cut out passes to the wing that resulted in turnovers early on too.

I'm a AB fan.

Still think Smith should have been carded on that.

This.

Plus...

LOL

Bot.

Fcken

I suspect their attitude toward attacking play and belief in that ambitious, collaborative approach / their superior abilities gives a slight edge as well.

I've read some studies on teams aiming to win vs trying not to lose / going through the highly structured motions, with one talking about the GS Warriors and their body language. I think the ABs display this joy, confidence, swagger even at times, more than anyone.

All good points, and a helpful contrast is the victim mentality and bitterness demonstrated by teams entrapped in a losing habit. As Sir Clive stated it saps their own energy.

Pacific Islanders

End of thread