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All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 6:41 am
by Ali's Choice
Summary

2019 was an abysmal year for the All Blacks. It wasn’t just the fact that we were terrible in the Rugby Championship or that we exited the RWC at the semi final stage. It was the poor quality of the Rugby we played for most of 2019 that was most disappointing.

This year Steve Hansen looked tired, disinterested and like he’d run out of ideas. He and Ian Foster kept promising us that they were working on our attacking structures, and that they were building towards the RWC where they would unleash something new and innovative. But this never happened. In hindsight, they were just buying time and making excuses. They had no new ideas and they had no innovations. The semi-final loss to England was not only our worst performance of the year, it was arguably the worst performance of the entire Steve Hansen/Ian Foster era.

Selection was the All Blacks’ Achilles heel in 2019. Steve Hansen and Ian Foster were either unwilling or unable to decide on their best XXIII. The constant chopping, changing, resting and rotating of players meant that combinations were never formed, and this happened right up until our shameful RWC exit. It’s as if the coaching team valued experimentation and keeping their ‘options open’ over cohesion and stability. Which means they learned nothing from the 2011 and 2015 RWC teams, which were extremely stable in terms of selection.

Highlight

My highlight was the huge win in the RWC Quarter Final over Ireland. Sure Ireland were not the team that they were a couple of seasons back, but the AB’s really put them to the sword. We saw glimpses of the potential that this team had. Not only was our attack scintillating, but our defensive effort was brilliant.

Lowlight

The RWC semi final loss was one of the poorest performances I have ever seen from an AB team. They looked thoroughly unprepared for the match, and utterly clueless about how to combat the English.

However my lowlight of the year was the appointment of Ian Foster through a sham recruitment process. NZ has produced so many excellent coaches over the past decade, and yet we’ve somehow ended up with a fraud of a man who failed as a head coach over 10 years with Waikato and the Chiefs. Foster’s appointment also meant that no-one was held accountable for this year’s disastrous All Black season.

Player of the Year

Ardie Savea was excellent all season, and has matured into a world class backrower. I still think he needs to play at no.7, which is his best position, which might mean that Sam Cane has to play elsewhere or ride the bench. Ardie Savea has always been a brilliant attacking player, but this year he added an elite defensive workrate and a world class pilfer to his repertoire as a player.

Next Steps?

2020 is going to be transformative for the AB’s. We are losing a stack of experience, with players like Sonny Bill Williams, Owen Franks, Ryan Crotty, Ben Smith and Kieran Read heading offshore. Throw in sabbaticals for Rettalick and Sam Whitelock, and it’s going to be a challenging and testing time for the AB’s.

Moving forward I hope that Ian Foster learns from the mistakes of the last 4 years and is willing to settle on a top XXIII. He needs to stop rotating his players, and allow strong combinations to form. If he keeps trying to please everyone by sharing around the test caps and rotating players on and off the bench, he will end up in exactly the same place in four years as he is now. Nowhere was this message illustrated more clearly than in the midfield. Hansen and Foster had four years to develop a new midfield after the 2015 RWC. And it wasn’t like they lacked options, there were many players that performed at different times. But they refused to settle on a combination and so we went into the RWC knock out stages without any idea of what our first choice midfield looked like. This is simply unforgiveable.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:12 am
by Enzedder
Can't disagree with any of that.

Time to ...
Spoiler: show
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Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:25 am
by Kiwias
Excellent summary and perhaps the occasional match in which we absolutely ran riot (57 - 0 vs Boks in 2018, 36 - 0 vs Aus in 2019 spring to mind), while showing the team potential, in reality served only to conceal the underlying issues with team selection. As you say, it all came back to bite us in the ass in that semifinal.

Enzedder got it right.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:27 am
by Couch
They did exactly what they did in 2007

Player rotation does not work!

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:46 am
by Yourmother
It’s not a case of flushing the dunny, and moving on.

Foster just doesn’t flush.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:53 am
by JB1981
Good summary. The frustrating thing is that you could change the year to 2018 and a lot would still apply, but the coaching team couldn’t see or wouldn’t accept it this.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:53 am
by Enzedder
Yourmother wrote:It’s not a case of flushing the dunny, and moving on.

Foster just doesn’t flush.
You have to let it go - it'll burn you up.

Although, having had the asshole for 8 years, even the thought of 2 more gives me the shits

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:28 am
by UncleFB
Agree with most of that and I have a few more lowlights:

The non selection of Cane for the semi final, I don't care what anyone says, England weren't unbeatable Supermen and Cane would have gone a long way to stopping them get a roll on. It was just stupid selecting by a coach who should know better. They sacrificed offensive defence, messed with the playing style of the loose forward trio all in the hope of winning a couple of lineout balls.

The selection of Sevu Reece in the ABs after his domestic violence incident and his choosing to not show commitment to NZ rugby by signing with a NH club. I'm happy for people to come back after they've done their time, Reece didn't do any time.

The Perth match.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:47 am
by Tehui
Summary of eloquent exposition: We got our ass kicked bro.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:49 am
by booji boy
JB1981 wrote:Good summary. The frustrating thing is that you could change the year to 2018 and a lot would still apply, but the coaching team couldn’t see or wouldn’t accept it this.
Don't forget they had a masterplan and were keeping their powder dry for the RWC. :roll:

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:56 am
by CrazyIslander
The worst thing about this year was the lack of anger at the ABs losing in the semi. The passion just not there amongst the NZ public.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 9:46 am
by Ali's Choice
UncleFB wrote:The non selection of Cane for the semi final, I don't care what anyone says, England weren't unbeatable Supermen and Cane would have gone a long way to stopping them get a roll on. It was just stupid selecting by a coach who should know better. They sacrificed offensive defence, messed with the playing style of the loose forward trio all in the hope of winning a couple of lineout balls.
The selection for this entire RWC cycle has been diabolical. It's been more about keeping players happy and experiementation than it has been about building an elite team with cohesive combinations. The fact that we were still tinkering with our halves, backrow, midfield, front row and back three right up until the RWC itself, and making changes up to the semi final, shows that the selectors had no idea about what they were doing.

Worryingly, I read today that Grant Fox has just had his lucrative selectors contract extended by NZR. So despite selection being an incoherent farce for the past 4 years both Fox and Foster have been retained as selectors. In fact the only selector to go is Hansen, who has retired. What a disgrace.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 9:51 am
by Lemoentjie
Looking back, this has been a terrible year for NZ rugby. No RWC, no Rugby Championship, no U20 RWC. Maybe there's a 7s win somewhere to help improve the mood :thumbup:

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:00 am
by naki
CrazyIslander wrote:The worst thing about this year was the lack of anger at the ABs losing in the semi. The passion just not there amongst the NZ public.
No, the worst thing was undoubtedly dumb people looking in from the outside with their dumb opinions.

There was no anger from the NZ public because a) we won the last two and b) there wasn’t much to get angry about it, we were well beaten by a better team. Don’t mistake an atypical maturity for a lack of passion.

That “passion”, and contempt, has been well on display since the banal appointment of Foster

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:26 am
by Ali's Choice
Lemoentjie wrote:Looking back, this has been a terrible year for NZ rugby. No RWC, no Rugby Championship, no U20 RWC. Maybe there's a 7s win somewhere to help improve the mood :thumbup:
Well, since you are talking about all of NZ Rugby, and not just the AB's, we did win Super Rugby. At Super Rugby level we have utterly dominated the Saffers and Aussies for years. I honestly couldn't give a f**k about U20's or 7's, they are meaningless to me.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:35 am
by JB1981
Ali's Choice wrote:
Lemoentjie wrote:Looking back, this has been a terrible year for NZ rugby. No RWC, no Rugby Championship, no U20 RWC. Maybe there's a 7s win somewhere to help improve the mood :thumbup:
Well, since you are talking about all of NZ Rugby, and not just the AB's, we did win Super Rugby. At Super Rugby level we have utterly dominated the Saffers and Aussies for years. I honestly couldn't give a f**k about U20's or 7's, they are meaningless to me.
What do you put the recent success down to - culture, coaching and invigorating a tired team? Where else could that be needed?

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:37 am
by Kiwias
Lemoentjie wrote:Looking back, this has been a terrible year for NZ rugby. No RWC, no Rugby Championship, no U20 RWC. Maybe there's a 7s win somewhere to help improve the mood :thumbup:
We’ve still got the Bledisloe Cup

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:30 am
by kiwigreg369
Good summary.

I would supplement:
- selection: I’m still confused by the midfield - and how that turned out. Not sure lumpy was the answer. Six before the RWC and during - which links to Cane and ScoBa - is a mystery. I do think they got there wings right.
- Reads captaincy was not strong enough in 2019.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:50 am
by jdogscoop
Playing Mo'unga at 10 and Barrett at 15 wasn't a mistake, it just happened way too late. The dual pivot system was a bit confused and they need to play more traditional roles. I can't believe some journalists who get paid to be good observers think we should go back to Barrett at 10. We'll be rudderless, although with Foster in charge it wouldn't surprise me.

As others have pointed out, selections elsewhere posed far bigger problems. An Australian rugby website noted the selectors almost seemed bored in 2019 and made contrived selections to solve problems that weren't there. I agree. Look at the team that cleaned up Australia 36-0 and ask yourself why it had to be so dramatically different for the semi-final.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 12:57 pm
by Gazzamonster
The Mo'unga and Barrett horror show was so symptomatic of everything wrong with the AB's since 2015.

There was no conviction of thought - never a sign that the brains trust was thinking clearly. Mo'unga undoubtedly has the skills and head for being the starting 10.....but in some important games his lack of experience (lack of combination) in challenging circumstances was evident. This could have been avoided by simply giving him some f'in game time. But Hansen got hung up on McKenzie and not sure how best to utilise Barrett.

Add to that - Read's average captaincy (great player - but as a captain...meh), the midfield debacle (just pick a combination and stick with it), players hanging around slightly too long (Bender - legend - but) and a slight change in the 'expectations' of what it is to be an All Black, (Sevu Reece, Aaron Smith etc).

The Semi defeat was the lowpoint - simply because off field decisions seemed to affect the game as much as the lack of decisions on the field did. Hansen really sh*t the bed in that game. I genuinely think he will never get over that one.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 12:59 pm
by Lemoentjie
Ali's Choice wrote:
Lemoentjie wrote:Looking back, this has been a terrible year for NZ rugby. No RWC, no Rugby Championship, no U20 RWC. Maybe there's a 7s win somewhere to help improve the mood :thumbup:
Well, since you are talking about all of NZ Rugby, and not just the AB's, we did win Super Rugby. At Super Rugby level we have utterly dominated the Saffers and Aussies for years. I honestly couldn't give a f**k about U20's or 7's, they are meaningless to me.
Those are the ones you remember. I'm sure in 20 years time, non-Crusaders fans will look back and talk about the wonders of the 2019 Super Rugby season.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 1:02 pm
by Gazzamonster
Ali's Choice wrote:
However my lowlight of the year was the appointment of Ian Foster through a sham recruitment process. NZ has produced so many excellent coaches over the past decade, and yet we’ve somehow ended up with a fraud of a man who failed as a head coach over 10 years with Waikato and the Chiefs. Foster’s appointment also meant that no-one was held accountable for this year’s disastrous All Black season.
This will be an interesting one to bookmark - I genuinely believe we are about to embark on the worst few seasons of AB's rugby ever.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 4:12 pm
by Ellafan
FFS the antarctic is melting.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:32 pm
by naki
Ellafan wrote:FFS the antarctic is melting.
Good point. Delete all rugby threads on this rugby forum right now, fellow rugby fans :thumbup:

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:40 pm
by jdogscoop
Lemoentjie wrote:
Ali's Choice wrote:
Lemoentjie wrote:Looking back, this has been a terrible year for NZ rugby. No RWC, no Rugby Championship, no U20 RWC. Maybe there's a 7s win somewhere to help improve the mood :thumbup:
Well, since you are talking about all of NZ Rugby, and not just the AB's, we did win Super Rugby. At Super Rugby level we have utterly dominated the Saffers and Aussies for years. I honestly couldn't give a f**k about U20's or 7's, they are meaningless to me.
Those are the ones you remember. I'm sure in 20 years time, non-Crusaders fans will look back and talk about the wonders of the 2019 Super Rugby season.
In case you were wondering, this boet visited this thread to remind you all that the winner of RWC 2015 was South Africa.

Thanks, boet. :thumbup:

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:33 pm
by booji boy
Lemoentjie wrote:
Ali's Choice wrote:
Lemoentjie wrote:Looking back, this has been a terrible year for NZ rugby. No RWC, no Rugby Championship, no U20 RWC. Maybe there's a 7s win somewhere to help improve the mood :thumbup:
Well, since you are talking about all of NZ Rugby, and not just the AB's, we did win Super Rugby. At Super Rugby level we have utterly dominated the Saffers and Aussies for years. I honestly couldn't give a f**k about U20's or 7's, they are meaningless to me.
Those are the ones you remember. I'm sure in 20 years time, non-Crusaders fans will look back and talk about the wonders of the 2019 Super Rugby season.
Now you mention it as a non Crusaders fan I do remember the Crusaders marvelous repeat win in the Super 12 1999 coming from bottom of the table and doing it the hard way storming home with away wins over The QLD Reds and Highlanders. :thumbup:

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:17 pm
by not_english
I didn't think we were that bad in the world cup. I didn't think we were going to win the RWC based on our form going into it, but we had our moments. We had good wins over Ireland and Sth Africa (who won the whole thing).

People have been complaining about AB selections when we lose since I have been watching rugby, but in this case I don't buy it.
The player not selected rises in the public imagination whenever there has been a bad performance, but in this case we just don't have the dominant forward pack that we have had in previous years. We were thrashed in the semi, but we were also thrashed in a similar fashion by Ireland at the end of last year. Unless we get a few better forwards, this will happen again.

We are nowhere as bad as we were for patches of the mid 1990s though.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:04 am
by merlin the happy pig
lots of talk about the midfield muddle and Mo'unga vs Barrett as though they were determining factors in our loss to England.
They were almost completely irrelevant.

What lost the semi-final
- Poor lineout throwing
- Serious lack of intensity at the tackle
- The much hyped pod system where our loose forwards were stationed 15m behind the gain line to act as a screen to get the ball out wide. End result they weren't able to get to any rucks on time.
- No plan B on attack.
- No leader capable of telling the team plan A was getting them killed.

Selections were symptoms of uncertain thinking among the coaches, but it was a shit game plan, preparation and poor individual skills that killed us in that game.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:07 am
by Wilderbeast
I’m with Not English that the biggest problem was that the forwards didn’t turn up. Lots of other issues throughout the year around selection and tactics but that’s not why we lost vs England (though tactics played a part).

Will post a more considered response to op when not on a phone, as it’s a good post :thumbup:

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:12 am
by Ali's Choice
not_english wrote:I didn't think we were that bad in the world cup. I didn't think we were going to win the RWC based on our form going into it, but we had our moments. We had good wins over Ireland and Sth Africa (who won the whole thing).

People have been complaining about AB selections when we lose since I have been watching rugby, but in this case I don't buy it.
The player not selected rises in the public imagination whenever there has been a bad performance, but in this case we just don't have the dominant forward pack that we have had in previous years. We were thrashed in the semi, but we were also thrashed in a similar fashion by Ireland at the end of last year. Unless we get a few better forwards, this will happen again.

We are nowhere as bad as we were for patches of the mid 1990s though.
You don't "buy" the fact that the selectors never allowed combinations to bed down and develop, and that we went into the RWC without an established front row, backrow, halves duo, midfield or back three? Whether you "buy it" or not, that's the reality of the matter.

I'm not complaining about Player A being selected over Player B, I'm complaining about the constant rotation and experimentation across the entire team for the duration of the last RWC cycle. Our selectors, two of whom have been reappointed for the next RWC cycle, were unwilling or unable to settle on a team. And I think that contributed to our poor play in 2019.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:28 am
by Grandpa
Ali's Choice wrote:
not_english wrote:I didn't think we were that bad in the world cup. I didn't think we were going to win the RWC based on our form going into it, but we had our moments. We had good wins over Ireland and Sth Africa (who won the whole thing).

People have been complaining about AB selections when we lose since I have been watching rugby, but in this case I don't buy it.
The player not selected rises in the public imagination whenever there has been a bad performance, but in this case we just don't have the dominant forward pack that we have had in previous years. We were thrashed in the semi, but we were also thrashed in a similar fashion by Ireland at the end of last year. Unless we get a few better forwards, this will happen again.

We are nowhere as bad as we were for patches of the mid 1990s though.
You don't "buy" the fact that the selectors never allowed combinations to bed down and develop, and that we went into the RWC without an established front row, backrow, halves duo, midfield or back three? Whether you "buy it" or not, that's the reality of the matter.

I'm not complaining about Player A being selected over Player B, I'm complaining about the constant rotation and experimentation across the entire team for the duration of the last RWC cycle. Our selectors, two of whom have been reappointed for the next RWC cycle, were unwilling or unable to settle on a team. And I think that contributed to our poor play in 2019.
I still think that NZ team could have won the world cup... even with the Scott Barrett aberration... had it been England in the quarterfinal, rather than the semi... I am pretty sure the All Blacks would have won...

It was all mental...

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:35 am
by Ali's Choice
Grandpa wrote:I still think that NZ team could have won the world cup... even with the Scott Barrett aberration... had it been England in the quarterfinal, rather than the semi... I am pretty sure the All Blacks would have won...

It was all mental...
We can speculate and hypothesise as much as we like about how outcomes might have been different if different things had happened. At the end of the day we'll never know. The reality is that professional sports is a results based industry, and the results of 2019 were unacceptable. However no-one was held accountable for this and everyone on the coaching team, aside from the retiring Hansen, was either retained or promoted. NZR's actions since the RWC make it very clear that the board feel that the All Blacks performed well in 2019. They must be living in a fantasy land.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:38 am
by jdogscoop
I agree with AC in that the selection group never settled on their top team and stuck with it.

We saw different teams through 2018-19, and it unravelled in spectacular fashion in the semi-final.

What I'd like to place more emphasis on is the moronic loose forward selection for that game. We had a trio that had been humming in the lead up, namely Cane at 7, Savea 6 and Read at 8. To combat the lively English trio you'd have thought that the status quo would be ideal. Instead, the selectors opt for Barrett at 6 in order to attack the lineout? Poor.

Several players enhanced their reputation by sitting in the stands. Cane is one of them. God we missed him in that first half. I would argue that Crotty with his cool head was another. Taylor shat the bed with his throwing and is back to being firmly number 2 behind Coles until he can prove he is a lot more accurate than that outing showed.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:55 am
by UncleFB
jdogscoop wrote:I agree with AC in that the selection group never settled on their top team and stuck with it.

We saw different teams through 2018-19, and it unravelled in spectacular fashion in the semi-final.

What I'd like to place more emphasis on is the moronic loose forward selection for that game. We had a trio that had been humming in the lead up, namely Cane at 7, Savea 6 and Read at 8. To combat the lively English trio you'd have thought that the status quo would be ideal. Instead, the selectors opt for Barrett at 6 in order to attack the lineout? Poor.

Several players enhanced their reputation by sitting in the stands. Cane is one of them. God we missed him in that first half. I would argue that Crotty with his cool head was another. Taylor shat the bed with his throwing and is back to being firmly number 2 behind Coles until he can prove he is a lot more accurate than that outing showed.
This!!!! As I said when the selection was announced (and have repeated it ad nauseam since then :lol: ) the selection changed completely the style and role of the entire loose forward trio.

I'm not sure Crotty would have added much more than the selected combo, but in saying that I think a combo of any four of our midfielders would have been just fine. Taylor was strangely out of form in this RWC so it was confusing that he was still starting.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 12:58 am
by jdogscoop
UncleFB wrote:
jdogscoop wrote:I agree with AC in that the selection group never settled on their top team and stuck with it.

We saw different teams through 2018-19, and it unravelled in spectacular fashion in the semi-final.

What I'd like to place more emphasis on is the moronic loose forward selection for that game. We had a trio that had been humming in the lead up, namely Cane at 7, Savea 6 and Read at 8. To combat the lively English trio you'd have thought that the status quo would be ideal. Instead, the selectors opt for Barrett at 6 in order to attack the lineout? Poor.

Several players enhanced their reputation by sitting in the stands. Cane is one of them. God we missed him in that first half. I would argue that Crotty with his cool head was another. Taylor shat the bed with his throwing and is back to being firmly number 2 behind Coles until he can prove he is a lot more accurate than that outing showed.
This!!!! As I said when the selection was announced (and have repeated it ad nauseam since then :lol: ) the selection changed completely the style and role of the entire loose forward trio.

I'm not sure Crotty would have added much more than the selected combo, but in saying that I think a combo of any four of our midfielders would have been just fine. Taylor was strangely out of form in this RWC so it was confusing that he was still starting.
I actually think 7 is Savea's worst position, though he can realistically play all three loose roles. He seems to go better as a roaming 6 or 8, with a Cane type destroying people and a complementary big unit in the other spot.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:00 am
by Grandpa
UncleFB wrote:
jdogscoop wrote:I agree with AC in that the selection group never settled on their top team and stuck with it.

We saw different teams through 2018-19, and it unravelled in spectacular fashion in the semi-final.

What I'd like to place more emphasis on is the moronic loose forward selection for that game. We had a trio that had been humming in the lead up, namely Cane at 7, Savea 6 and Read at 8. To combat the lively English trio you'd have thought that the status quo would be ideal. Instead, the selectors opt for Barrett at 6 in order to attack the lineout? Poor.

Several players enhanced their reputation by sitting in the stands. Cane is one of them. God we missed him in that first half. I would argue that Crotty with his cool head was another. Taylor shat the bed with his throwing and is back to being firmly number 2 behind Coles until he can prove he is a lot more accurate than that outing showed.
This!!!! As I said when the selection was announced (and have repeated it ad nauseam since then :lol: ) the selection changed completely the style and role of the entire loose forward trio.

I'm not sure Crotty would have added much more than the selected combo, but in saying that I think a combo of any four of our midfielders would have been just fine. Taylor was strangely out of form in this RWC so it was confusing that he was still starting.
But unless I remember it wrong.. go back to the NZ v England thread... in the build up most NZ supporters (like the All Blacks themselves) were still drunk on the Irish game... and not many posters questioned the Scott Barrett pick... I can only remember a couple of others thinking it was risky.... it's funny that afterwards, everyone now questions it...

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:01 am
by jdogscoop
Grandpa wrote:
UncleFB wrote:
jdogscoop wrote:I agree with AC in that the selection group never settled on their top team and stuck with it.

We saw different teams through 2018-19, and it unravelled in spectacular fashion in the semi-final.

What I'd like to place more emphasis on is the moronic loose forward selection for that game. We had a trio that had been humming in the lead up, namely Cane at 7, Savea 6 and Read at 8. To combat the lively English trio you'd have thought that the status quo would be ideal. Instead, the selectors opt for Barrett at 6 in order to attack the lineout? Poor.

Several players enhanced their reputation by sitting in the stands. Cane is one of them. God we missed him in that first half. I would argue that Crotty with his cool head was another. Taylor shat the bed with his throwing and is back to being firmly number 2 behind Coles until he can prove he is a lot more accurate than that outing showed.
This!!!! As I said when the selection was announced (and have repeated it ad nauseam since then :lol: ) the selection changed completely the style and role of the entire loose forward trio.

I'm not sure Crotty would have added much more than the selected combo, but in saying that I think a combo of any four of our midfielders would have been just fine. Taylor was strangely out of form in this RWC so it was confusing that he was still starting.
But unless I remember it wrong.. go back to the NZ v England thread... in the build up most NZ supporters (like the All Blacks themselves) were still drunk on the Irish game... and not many posters questioned the Scott Barrett pick... I can only remember a couple of others thinking it was risky.... it's funny that afterwards, everyone now questions it...
I think it made many of us uneasy, and without reviewing that thread, suspect several posters questioned the necessity of it.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:07 am
by UncleFB
Grandpa wrote:
UncleFB wrote:
jdogscoop wrote:I agree with AC in that the selection group never settled on their top team and stuck with it.

We saw different teams through 2018-19, and it unravelled in spectacular fashion in the semi-final.

What I'd like to place more emphasis on is the moronic loose forward selection for that game. We had a trio that had been humming in the lead up, namely Cane at 7, Savea 6 and Read at 8. To combat the lively English trio you'd have thought that the status quo would be ideal. Instead, the selectors opt for Barrett at 6 in order to attack the lineout? Poor.

Several players enhanced their reputation by sitting in the stands. Cane is one of them. God we missed him in that first half. I would argue that Crotty with his cool head was another. Taylor shat the bed with his throwing and is back to being firmly number 2 behind Coles until he can prove he is a lot more accurate than that outing showed.
This!!!! As I said when the selection was announced (and have repeated it ad nauseam since then :lol: ) the selection changed completely the style and role of the entire loose forward trio.

I'm not sure Crotty would have added much more than the selected combo, but in saying that I think a combo of any four of our midfielders would have been just fine. Taylor was strangely out of form in this RWC so it was confusing that he was still starting.
But unless I remember it wrong.. go back to the NZ v England thread... in the build up most NZ supporters (like the All Blacks themselves) were still drunk on the Irish game... and not many posters questioned the Scott Barrett pick... I can only remember a couple of others thinking it was risky.... it's funny that afterwards, everyone now questions it...
I don't care about others ... this is my "I told you so" moment. :lol:

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:07 am
by Wilderbeast
I recall Barrett being largely accepted as a smart move by both the press and posters on here. Definitely don’t recall a large group being uneasy about it.

Re: All Blacks 2019 Year in Review

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 1:10 am
by UncleFB
Wilderbeast wrote:I recall Barrett being largely accepted as a smart move by both the press and posters on here. Definitely don’t recall a large group being uneasy about it.
Did you only read The Press, whatever the Naki paper is called, and posts from posters from Canterbury and the Naki, but not naki who doesn't seem to fluff the Barrett's like you'd expect from someone with the name naki. :P