The Rugby Championship - Round 4

[Blake]

Enjoyed this test. That bom squad the difference again. Pollard tried to hard but it's obvious SMZ is just in another class on attack. Willie had a great test. The All Blacks not far off.

Ironically Willie was great under the high ball today and his passing & attacking play was pretty shit.

[Sards]

Enjoyed this test. That bom squad the difference again. Pollard tried to hard but it's obvious SMZ is just in another class on attack. Willie had a great test. The All Blacks not far off.

Ironically Willie was great under the high ball today and his passing & attacking play was pretty shit.

I always hear this from the Cape Crusaders.

Willie has been an outstanding servant of Springbok rugby and is still sharp and creates a dynamic at 15 that Fassi and Willemse cannot do. Fassi is a galloping thoroughbred. Willemse is a stepper . Willie plays for the team. Creates tries. That's why Brown and Rassie favor him. I am not upset when he takes Fassi's place in the team. He deserves it. He has earned the right. All I read on social media is how kak Willie is......all from the Cape Crusaders. It's shocking how the Mother city is infested with this " shade throwing " crap to push their own agenda.

[convoluted]

... if we lose the Bledisloe I'll shit my spleen.

Ominously, the first game is at Wellington.

[fishfoodie]

That last try might just be the smartest I've ever seen a Argie loose forward be on the pitch

I'm used to them being thuggish morons, & losing their teams the match, not using the post as a blocker !

[Stranger]

Argentina looking good

[fishfoodie]

Sweet.As.A.Nut !

[_Os_]

Pumas pumping the Wobblies, underlines how erratic and hard to call the Pumas are, based on this they shouldn't have lost last week.

Wobblies heading for the spoon, no chance they can beat the ABs.

[Oxbow]

Argentina playing some lovely rugby.

[fishfoodie]

Argentina playing some lovely rugby.

+1

Dr Phil could turn out to be a great coach, but he needs the Union to continue to support him

[_Os_]

Pumas put the half ton on the Wobblies. Oooff.

[Oxbow]

That was magnificent.

[_Os_]

Pumas put the half ton on the Wobblies. Oooff.

Now the Pumas put 60 points on them. Double oooff.

[fishfoodie]

Pumas put the half ton on the Wobblies. Oooff.

Now the Pumas put 60 points on them. Double oooff.

and on a day with perfect conditions, it feels about right for where the two teams are ?

[bok_viking]

A collapse of epic proportions in this 2nd half by Australia. One of the best performances by Argentina i have seen in this half.

Boks need to be careful against them, they rarely play well against Argentina.

[Oxbow]

That's a paddling.

[_Os_]

Pumas put the half ton on the Wobblies. Oooff.

Now the Pumas put 60 points on them. Double oooff.

and on a day with perfect conditions, it feels about right for where the two teams are ?

67-27, the Wobblies biggest ever defeat.

If I were a Kiwi I would be thinking about adding one or two Argie sides to Super Rugby.

[bok_viking]

50-7 in the 2nd half. Thats worse than many second tier teams against the top tier nations.
Not sure how Australia is going to fix this anytime soon. A lot of hard ground work needs to be done in Australia grassroots to get it turned around.

[boere wors]

67-27

what a scoreline... seldom these days
respect, argentina

[Enzedder]

Stuff's AB rating. Only 2 got 7 or above and that is very fair. Although too many 5s and 6s as I don't think we had many players up to that level

15. Will Jordan: Plenty of hype around what was just his second test start at fullback, but failed to really feature in his 60 minutes, aside from a nice nudge with his first touch and a superb snuff out of an SA cross-kick. 5

14. Sevu Reece: Looked busy in few chances with ball in hand, but yellow-carded in 17th minute for taking out le Roux in the air, then caught napping around corner of maul as Marx dove in for match-winner. 4

13. Rieko Ioane: Saved day on midfield Boks cross-kick, but then dropped a ball after getting too close to McKenzie, which had coach Robertson highly-frustrated, while also guilty of not covering ball at base of ruck which allowed Pollard to steal. Shifted to left wing for final half-hour and immediately saw plenty more involvement with some good runs. 6

12. Jordie Barrett: Started with a beautiful bounced clearance to touch, and took a game-high 15 carries, most of them tough into heavy contact, though endured a couple of high-ball drops, and pinged on attack for flying in low at ruck off feet. 6

11. Mark Tele’a: Poor start, with dropped ball on first carry and botched take on touchline to give SA a lineout, while unlucky not to be pinged for tackling a jumping Pollard, and just never got going in his 50 minutes. 3

10. Damian McKenzie: Ran the ship, but unable to conjure anything, while had mixed success under the Boks’ high balls. Off night (4/7) off the tee (one short and wide from 56 metres), with the glaring miss from out in front from 38 metres out with eight minutes to play which would have given ABs the lead. 5

9. Cortez Ratima: Selected to up the tempo, and picked runners well (though one forward pass), if never scampering himself, and box-kicking was decent. Also claimed a ruck turnover penalty. 6

8. Ardie Savea: Kept at it till the death, ending with team-equal-high 15 tackles, without a miss, though endured some frustrations with being penalised a couple of times at ruck/tackle. Again kept relatively quiet with ball in hand, while will rue untidy transfer of lineout ball to maul which got knocked on. 6

7. Sam Cane: Ever-industrious defensive self, including plenty of repeat efforts in lung-busting first spell which included crucial low tackle on flying Kolbe and huge turnover win near own line, but could do nothing about stopping Kolisi charging over for game’s first try. 6

6. Wallace Sititi: First test start, on his 22nd birthday, in a somewhat unfamiliar position, and gave a decent account of himself in his hour. Got bumped on a few tackles, but made up for it with some powerful charges, and a couple of nice breaks with his fine footwork, and was also a frequent lineout option. 7

5. Tupou Vaa’i: Picked off a couple of lineout steals, but will have nightmares of du Toit’s big mit beating him to the punch on the one after the siren. Threw himself about well defensively, though got barged through by Marx to give momentum for game’s first try. 6

4. Scott Barrett: The skipper made zero metres with ball in hand (from four carries), though came up with a couple of big penalties over the ball. Will live to forget an awful knock-on off his face, though, as the ABs pressed hard for a try in the final quarter against 14 men. 5

3. Tyrel Lomax: Backed up last week with some more silky ball-playing, and was equal-high for team’s tackles (15), but came undone at the end of a curiously long stint when pinged in 70th minute for scrum collapse, then sin-binned in 73rd for silly shoulder to Kolbe, which allowed the Boks to seal the deal. 5

2. Codie Taylor: The All Blacks’ best on show, carving out a game-high 71 metres (on 10 carries), in a particularly storming first half where he continuously busted the line and got them on the front foot. Ended up staying the course (minus a nine-minute HIA stint), and will be gutted about du Toit snuffing out his final throw. 8

1. Tamaiti Williams: Also kept out there for an extended period, and was part of an All Blacks’ scrum which quickly responded well after getting shunted backwards on their first two pack-downs. 6

RESERVES

16. Asafo Aumua (Taylor, 18min [off 29min]): On for a brief cameo when Taylor was doing HIA check and had first throw picked off. N/R

17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (Williams, 69min): Late to the party. N/R

18. Fletcher Newell (Ioane, 76min): Even later to the party, only entering due to a scrum happening with Lomax in the bin. N/R

19. Sam Darry: Not invited to the party − a real rarity in the modern game. N/R

20. Luke Jacobson (Sititi, 60min): Put his shoulders to work with 10 tackles, but knocked on on the ground when trying to scoop up a ball with five minutes to play. 4

21. TJ Perenara (Ratima, 50min): Benched to be the experienced head to close it out, though sent a rather bad pass behind Savea to stunt hot attack, was skinned by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and was again warned by ref for too much chat his way. 3

22. Anton Lienert-Brown (Tele’a, 50min): Looked lively on attack at centre, either side of making a bit of a hash of a restart kick. 5

23. Beauden Barrett (Jordan, 60min): Injected at fullback but there was to be no super-sub magic, with his charged-down 73rd minute kick on his 10-metre line paving the way for the Boks to launch their winning raid. 4

[_Os_]

50-7 in the 2nd half. Thats worse than many second tier teams against the top tier nations.
Not sure how Australia is going to fix this anytime soon. A lot of hard ground work needs to be done in Australia grassroots to get it turned around.

They're fucked and it has been obvious for awhile. Shouldn't take away from Pumas though, they're a good side not possible to be weak and beat the ABs in NZ.

Aussie rugby had perfect conditions for 30 years, partners with SA and NZ the two best sides for most of that time, Super Rugby the best club comp for a lot of that time. Failed to use all that to even create a domestic club comp. Failed to out compete any of league/AFL/soccer/cricket. Threw their weight around in SANZAAR despite taking not much weight to the table, which was the main reason for the collapse of Super Rugby (it is completely reasonable for SA to have 5 or 6 sides, it doesn't follow that the Aussies then get 5, our 6th side had a positive winning record against the 5 Aussie sides ... the Aussies demanding a Japanese side then dumping it into our conference and making it play in HK and Singapore was just madness). They seemed to have a mission to remove SA from Super Rugby and were blaming us for all sorts a few years back.

Have to wonder what any other southern hemisphere country would've done with 30 years of collaboration with SA and NZ. The Aussies just don't like rugby much, not a criticism at all just the way it is. SA has limited their exposure to them now, NZ probably needs to have a think about how they do that too (adding the Argies back into Super Rugby seems the obvious move).

[Gumboot]

Wow, can't believe that scoreline. Well done, Pumas!

[convoluted]

Planet Rugby
All Blacks player ratings v Springboks:

15 Will Jordan: Popped up in different holes around the pitch, and always looked a threat with ball-in-hand. Also came up with some decent defensive efforts too. Suited the system well at 15. 6

14 Sevu Reece: Copped a needless yellow card for a clumsy challenge on Willie le Roux in the first-half, but made up for it with some decent work on both sides of the ball. 6

13 Rieko Ioane: Kept pretty quiet when in midfield, but looked much more threatening when deployed on the wing. Was a real handful out wide, and used his space to good effect. He shone on the wing during his early international career, and this could be a good way to use him moving forward if this showing was anything to go by. 7

12 Jordie Barrett: A solid showing for the most part. Took a lot of the load off Damian McKenzie, and linked up well with the likes of Will Jordan and Sevu Reece early on. Also dealt with the pressure from Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi and Damian de Allende well. 6

11 Mark Tele’a: Shakey start to the game, but grew into the game. As you would expect he went looking for the ball and came up with some nice carries. 6

10 Damian McKenzie: Looked a lot calmer for the most part, and pulled the strings well around the park. Despite his decent showing though, his late missed kick ultimately came back to haunt his side though, as the Springboks struck with a crucial try just minutes after. 6

9 Cortez Ratima: Consistent quick-ball, which added some much-needed zip to the All Blacks attack. Also combined well with McKenzie, which gave him the freedom to play his own game. Also put his body on the line in the breakdown, and produced some nice turnovers as a result. 7

Planet Rugby player ratings key 10 - Career defining performance 9 - Outright blockbuster effort 8 - Significantly influenced the result of the game 7 - Committed and effective outing 6 - Flashes of brilliance outside of executing fundamentals 5 - Fulfilling the role required by position (base level) 4 - Poor execution of fundamentals 3 - Costly errors and/or discipline in the game 2 - Poor performance that directly impacted the result 1 - Grossly ineffective throughout 0 - Should have carried water instead

8 Ardie Savea: Quiet by his usual standards, but still managed to drag his side over the gain line with some solid carries. Like a lot of the pack he made a real mess of the Springboks breakdown, which limited their opportunities to play for the most part. 7

7 Sam Cane: As usual, just ran his blood to water in defence. He was constantly throwing himself into the breakdown, and also produced some thumping tackles. 7

6 Wallace Sititi: Had a big job on his hands coming in for the impressive Ethan Blackadder, but lived up to the billing with a great showing. Constantly looked to get his hands on the ball in attack, and produced some devastating carries as a result. He also packed a punch in defence and looked to make a nuisance of himself in the breakdown which slowed down the Boks ball. 9

Tight five
5 Tupou Vaa’i: A busy shift from the lock. Brought plenty of physicality to proceedings with some solid involvements on both sides of the ball. 6

4 Scott Barrett: Was a consistent threat at the breakdown, which played a big role in the All Blacks getting the upper hand in this area. Also added a solid platform at the lineout. 6

3 Tyrel Lomax: Mixed fortunes in the scrum, but looked really tidy around the park. Came up with some strong tackles and contributed to the attack too with some delicious passes. Went wrong at the end of the game though, as he copped a yellow card which ultimately helped South Africa to close out the game. 5

2 Codie Taylor: Looked back to his best for large parts of the game. Made lots of work for himself in attack and was able to break through the Springboks defence on multiple occasions. 8

1 Tamaiti Williams: Had the better of Malherbe in the scrum, and like Lomax also produced some lovely flashes in attack with some deft hands. 7

Replacements
TJ Perenara, Anton Lienert-Brown and Beauden Barrett added a new dynamic to the All Blacks attack, but unfortunately they drifted off as the Springboks regained the upper hand.

Despite their decent showings, the forwards on the bench couldn’t replicate their impact, and were blown away by the Bomb Squad. They were unable to match up to the physicality of the likes of Malcom Marx and Elrigh Louw, but importantly didn’t get anywhere near the levels of the players they replaced.

A lot of the power in the attack drifted when Wallace Sititi was replaced, and likewise when Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Asafo Aumua came on for Tamaiti Williams and Codie Taylor too. This is becoming a very serious issue for the All Blacks, as this is the third time this championship, and the second in a row, that the bench have struggled to match up to their opponents in the tight. They might need to make some personnel changes if it’s not fixed soon.
4

[convoluted]

... and how the NZ Herald rated them:
15. Will Jordan – 5
Quiet night at fullback. Shifted to wing in last 20. Great steal and run up left wing in first half but, grubber didn’t came off. Kicking game was fine but was mixed in the air. Leaves Scott Robertson something to ponder about where to start him.

14. Sevu Reece – 4
Yellow card for careless tackle. Seemed to be a pace shorter than Kolbe. Beaten by Malcolm Marx for late try, again no easy task to stop. Conceded two penalties.

13. Rieko Ioane – 6
An improvement on last week. Knock on with All Blacks hot on attack in first half. Improved at breakdown when needed. Looked better on the wing for brief time out wide. Helped keep Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel at bay.

12. Jordie Barrett – 8
Monster effort in defence with 12 tackles and a team-high 15 carries. A calm head on attack and unafraid to get in the mix. Good early touch finder. A poor kick for touch from penalty. Untidy in the air a few times.

11. Mark Tele’a - 4
Ball slipped through his hands into touch attempting to catch a long kick. Had a few touches and made metres out of nothing. Off after 50 minutes.

10. Damian McKenzie – 5
Kicking and running game didn’t make a huge impact. Brave in the air but produced mixed results. Pinged for high contact after failing to take high ball early. Kicked four penalties, one from far out but the other three from close range. Missed two from distance and a crucial late one from in front. Poor kick late just gave away possession from own line.

9. Cortez Ratima – 6
Impressive in a major starting role. Earned a penalty steal. Off after 50 minutes. Would have liked to see him out there longer.

8. Ardie Savea – 7
Was everywhere with 12 carries and 12 tackles. Penalty for early tackle on halfback. Another penalty probably unfairly called at breakdown. Tackle set up Ratima penalty steal. Four defenders beaten but all in first half. Lost ball at lineout during attacking opportunity late.

7. Sam Cane – 8
Almost vintage Cane. Try-saver on Kolbe. Penalty steal deep inside own half. Matched Pieter-Steph du Toit for impact on defence with 12 tackles. Great to have him back but sad to see him go at end of season.

6. Wallace Sititi 8
Made a huge impact in his first test start. Strong runs beating six defenders from his 10 carries. Lasted 60 minutes and gave the Springboks trouble that entire time. Could have needed him 10 more minutes at least.

5. Tupou Vaa’i - 9
His best test match to date. Impressive around the breakdown and broken play. Stole early lineout but ball went into touch. Crucial penalty steal on halfway late followed by a lineout steal. Was probably the standout player that stepped up late in the test. Was beaten to final lineout, however.

4. Scott Barrett (c) - 8
Another superb outing from the skipper, especially in the first half. Two penalty steals. Great pressure at breakdown. But crucial knock-on on attack in final quarter as All Blacks looked to score and take lead.

3. Tyrel Lomax – 8
Played 73 minutes, a staggering effort for a starting prop. Brilliant play around the field, like a centre at times. Better scrum after a messy start. Team high 15 tackles. Penalty offside gave Boks chance to attack for opening try. Late scrum penalty and the late yellow was costly. Maybe tired legs.

2. Codie Taylor – 9
The best of the All Blacks across the two tests in South Africa, maybe only bettered by Pieter-Steph du Toit across both teams. Off after 17 minutes for HIA but returned to finish out the test. Had a penalty steal and the most carries in first half with Sititi despite the 10 minute break. Ran for 71m, more than the combined efforts of Canan Moodie and fellow lineout thrower Cheslin Kolbe, 13 tackles as well. Final lineout was on mark, just well anticipated by du Toit and Boks.

1. Tamaiti Williams – 7
68 minutes! Immense. Part of a scrum that only got better as test went on. Made nine tackles.

Reserves:

16. Asafo Aumua 5. On for 10 minutes in first half. Two solid lineout throws and made five tackles in that time.

17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi 4. Played last 12 minutes.

18. Fletcher Newell 4. Only needed for last three minutes.

19. Sam Darry N/A.

20. Luke Jacobson 5. On for Sititi for last 20 minutes. Didn’t make same impact with ball in hand but impressive nine tackles in that time.

21. TJ Perenara 4. On at 50. Missed tackle out wide which led to clean break. Keeps making enemies of referees.

22. Beauden Barrett 4. On for final 20 but was not as impactful as hoped.

23. Anton Lienert-Brown 5. On at 50. A better showing than the player he replaced, might be the only reserve who can say that.

[Gumboot]

I usually don't put much store in the Kiwi hacks' player ratings, apart from enjoying the unintentional comedy value at times. Those Herald's ratings are OK I guess, certainly compared to the Stuff clown who rated two of our best on the night - Jordie and Tupou Vaa'i - a pitiful 6 each. Talk about fucking clueless.

[Kiwias]

Wow, can't believe that scoreline. Well done, Pumas!

21 points in the last 10 minutes

[Guy Smiley]

I usually don't put much store in the Kiwi hacks' player ratings, apart from enjoying the unintentional comedy value at times. Those Herald's ratings are OK I guess, certainly compared to the Stuff clown who rated two of our best on the night - Jordie and Tupou Vaa'i - a pitiful 6 each. Talk about fucking clueless.

[Jethro]

Once again the ABs snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, or South Africa know how to win tough.

[_Os_]

67-27, the Wobblies biggest ever defeat.

Just looked this up as I wasn't sure the commentators were correct. It isn't the Wallabies biggest defeat, that is 53-8 against the Boks in 2008. Foolish of me for thinking Aussie commentators knew what they were talking about, they thought the 61-22 loss to the Boks in 1997 was their heaviest loss.

[Sards]

Enjoyed this test. That bom squad the difference again. Pollard tried to hard but it's obvious SMZ is just in another class on attack. Willie had a great test. The All Blacks not far off.

Ironically Willie was great under the high ball today and his passing & attacking play was pretty shit.

I always hear this from the Cape Crusaders.

Willie has been an outstanding servant of Springbok rugby and is still sharp and creates a dynamic at 15 that Fassi and Willemse cannot do. Fassi is a galloping thoroughbred. Willemse is a stepper . Willie plays for the team. Creates tries. That's why Brown and Rassie favor him. I am not upset when he takes Fassi's place in the team. He deserves it. He has earned the right. All I read on social media is how kak Willie is......all from the Cape Crusaders. It's shocking how the Mother city is infested with this " shade throwing " crap to push their own agenda.

And Willie was given an 8 rating for an outstanding game.

That's why you don't trust a WP/Stormers supporter with after match analysis. They really can't help themselves.

[OomStruisbaai]

Calm down Sards, I said Willie had a good game. You make it a provincial thing like usual.

[Sards]

Calm down Sards, I said Willie had a good game. You make it a provincial thing like usual.

Yes you did.

[TedMaul]

*looksaround*
Where’s deepsouth this morning….

[_Os_]

What is the advantage in having Kolbe throw? All I can come up with is that it gets Marx into the maul faster and gives some confusion for the opposition video analysis team (they'll now have to do work on three throwers when Kolbe plays).

Can see a bit more utility in Kolbe feeding the ball into the scrum now and again, creates uncertainty in the oppo backline especially when a 9 as fast as Williams (fastest player in the squad) dropping into the backline. Can't remember him feeding the scrum in this test, but did slot in at 9 a few times in general play and distributed from the ruck. Going back to the RWC, the dual scrumhalves thing has been on Rassie's drawing board for awhile, could speed up attacks. The 1st Wallabies test when Kolbe fed the scrum, threw into the lineout, in general play was used at wing/first receiver/scrumhalf, does now look like where Rassie wants Kolbe to go. He's doing it in multiple big matches, so it is the plan.

Kolbe throwing for the Kolisi try:

[Enzedder]

*looksaround*
Where’s deepsouth this morning….

Checks logs....

Nobody has touched him - yet

[Lobby]

*looksaround*
Where’s deepsouth this morning….

Crying into his bowl of coco pops while hugging his replica Raygun tracksuit like a comfort blanket?

[Blake]

What is the advantage in having Kolbe throw? All I can come up with is that it gets Marx into the maul faster and gives some confusion for the opposition video analysis team (they'll now have to do work on three throwers when Kolbe plays).

My guess is that it’s a long con. Kolbe will be throwing in and doing nothing. Opposition analysis will ignore it as a decoy, and then one day, on a crucial play it’ll have a slight twist and he’ll score a try from it.

[Lobby]

What is the advantage in having Kolbe throw? All I can come up with is that it gets Marx into the maul faster and gives some confusion for the opposition video analysis team (they'll now have to do work on three throwers when Kolbe plays).

My guess is that it’s a long con. Kolbe will be throwing in and doing nothing. Opposition analysis will ignore it as a decoy, and then one day, on a crucial play it’ll have a slight twist and he’ll score a try from it.

Wingers (and scrum halves) were regularly used to throw into the lineout until the 1970s and 80s. Its only really since then that it has become exclusively the hooker's job to throw in to the lineout.

I think the rationale for doing so was that all the forwards were ready to contribute to the maul, and as teams rarely launched wide attacking plays from the lineout in those days, having one winger stuck on the touchline didn't matter so much.

In this case, I think its just another tactic to confuse and unsettle the opposition, who will wonder what's going on when they see Kolbe lining up to take the throw in and start trying to work out what the Bok's dastardly plan is this time.

[Biffer]

Next summers Lions tour is going to be a complete non event. Three tests won by 50 points at a canter.

[Sandstorm]

What is the advantage in having Kolbe throw? All I can come up with is that it gets Marx into the maul faster and gives some confusion for the opposition video analysis team (they'll now have to do work on three throwers when Kolbe plays).

My guess is that it’s a long con. Kolbe will be throwing in and doing nothing. Opposition analysis will ignore it as a decoy, and then one day, on a crucial play it’ll have a slight twist and he’ll score a try from it.

Kolbe throws better than Bongi and Marx.

[Sandstorm]

Next summers Lions tour is going to be a complete non event. Three tests won by 50 points at a canter.

Needs more Duncan McRae.