Better Rugby Rules

Source: Sky cuts Mexted ‘for criticising NZRU’

Extract…

Rugby personality Murray Mexted has claimed he was suspended from the Sky commentary team after criticising plans to cull four teams from the Air New Zealand Cup.

Mexted made the revelation while speaking at a breakfast to Wairarapa businesspeople and his comments were picked up by the Wairarapa Times-Age.

The former All Black No 8 said that after criticising the New Zealand Rugby Union on air, he received a letter from Sky’s director of sport, Kevin Cameron, pointing out that the NZRU was a commercial partner of the network and that he should “refrain from being critical”.

Consider this: NZRU was a huge support of the  now failed ELVs, and as there partner is SKYTV, all the paid  TV commentators were required to tow the line and support the ELVs.

SKYTV is the spin machine of the NZRU. If the NZRU are not for it, and you are a free thinking TV commentator you had better change your attitude otherwise all those great paid rugby trips will end rather quickly.

SKYTV commentators: Fox, Nesbit, Smith, Johnstone, Robinson are all cheerleaders for the NZRU. If they personally dont like something and its against the NZRU, you wont here it.

The are no true opinions when there are dollars behind it.

How to win rugby games?

7-0 vs the All Blacks.

Hmmmm.

Well I can say that if a team is losing to another team on consecutive meetings then the issue are:

1) 70% of the fault lies with players numbered 1 to 8: Winning structured plays (scrums, lineouts, kick offs, mauls) is critical to supply the main decision makers with the ball so the can execute the game plan. Winning the breakdown these days is a team effort, but having the heavy and stronger forwards at the breakdown gives you better than even odds of winning here as well. So forwards share most if not all this burden as well.

2) With (1)  included, 85% of the fault lies with players numbered 1 to 10. Getting the ball and knowing what to do with it is critical. Execution of the play is critical to success.

So Aussie fan you aren’t going to start winning until your forwards start winning.

That goes for the ABs as well when they next face the BOKs (3-0 vs All Blacks). The BOKs must be the ‘undisputed world forward champions’ at the moment.

Rugby is that simple,  ‘forwards’ determine the victory.

Zip zap ‘Conrad’ scores !!

Hanson: In charge of the backs, and on first impressions what a great improvement. Just proves how useless Wayne Smith was at forming a back line attack. We saw some structured attacks, great stuff !

Henry: In charge of the forwards, and once again on first impressions ‘much better’, but not “BOK” as ‘good’ ! Lineouts better, but scrums had issues and Aussies managed to muscle up on the ABsforwards in the first half. What would have the ‘BOKs’ have done to us ! Didn’t see too much in the maul department.

Smith: Defense, just the same. Who needs him ! We could save $500k here !

Noted improvements…
1) Cory Jane, makes you say what was that other guys name, Joe Rock who ??
2) Carter, on fire as the operations captain, watch out up north, here we come.
3) Hore, some great tight forward work !
4) Read is my preferred No 8, sorry Rodney !

This game saw both the ARU and NZRU bank at least $6,000,000 NZD each ! Hope its not a regular thing ! But economic needs must be met !

Role on summer tour !

This cant be good..

Question: Why was Hanson moved away being the forward coach, and Henry has been self appointed as forwards coach of the ABs?

Short Answer: Hanson was an ELV lover, and when the laws changed this year, he didn’t change, hence we saw with the three test matches against the BOKs the ABs forwards beaten!

Mauls (esp) scrums and lineout are more important now under the new laws than they were under the ELVs. The ELVs diluted these structured plays as the tap kick allowed them to less frequent (plus the ELV maul laws didnt help) in the game.

Hanson didn’t change, and we ended the 2009 season with 3-0 vs the BOKs.

Hanson once said after an ABs loss “Flush the dunny and move on !”, Well that’s be done, and Hanson is closer to the ABs coaching exit door !

Lets hope Henry improves the forwards. The fact that Issac Ross has been told to bulk up is a sign of this, as he was not good in the tight stuff versus the Boks. Maybe Henry should have said “Issac you need to BOK up !”

Source: Four new caps in All Blacks squad

Zac Guildford – Leading try scorer in NPC and new AB …

In tough company Hawkes Bay vs Canterbury Zac stood out !  This kid can score tries !  Along with Cory Jane,  Zac is a try scoring machine.

Cory and Zac oustide ‘postman’ Conrad Smith will be a delight to watch !

The selectors made this mistake during the Tri Nations. Slow learners I guess !

Sitiveni Sivivatu better take note otherwise he may well follow his cousin Joe Rokocoko out of the ABs squad !

Roll on summer tour ! Who cares about the baseball, smashem game they used to call Cricket !

Jokes:

This is a story from the magician on the Titanic who performed mainly sleight of hand tricks. He had a regular spot on the ship’s cabaret evening entertainment. He was actually quite a good magician, but his routines were regularly ruined by the onboard resident Titanic parrot who would fly around squawking out and giving away his secrets like:

SQWARK “IT’S UP HIS SLEEVE, IT’S UP HIS SLEEVE!” or

SQWARK “IT’S IN HIS POCKET, IT’S IN HIS POCKET!” or

SQWARK “IT’S IN HIS MOUTH, IT’S IN HIS MOUTH!”

The magician was getting pretty sick of this and threatened to kill the parrot if it ruined his act one more time. That evening right at the climax of his act, just as he was about to disappear in a puff of smoke, the Titianic hit the iceberg and sank.

Amazingly, the magician and the parrot were the only two survivors. The magician was lying on a piece of driftwood in a daze. As he opened his eyes he could see the parrot staring at him out of its beady little eye.

The parrot sat there for hours just staring at him and eventually said, “OK, I give up, what did you do with the boat?”

Ooh some of these are rich…

What’s the difference between Graham Henry and Viagra?
At least Viagra gives you a semi.

Graham Henry gets handed a mobile phone and is told “This is Wayne Barnes’s phone”
Henry asks “How did you know?”
“It has 15 missed calls” comes the reply

Why did Graham Henry go to a ball dressed as a pumpkin?
Because he hoped when the clock struck midnight he would turn into a coach.

First a win is a win, so history will say. We  done ABs !

But more was said about this AB team last week when they lost to the Boks.

The Aussies were duds, they were already on the beach, speedos and suntan lotion at the ready !

So the media will mostly post positive print on the ABs and coaches, and wrongly so, the true status of the ABs was determined in Hamilton last week.

So what was learnt in this game.
1) Jane is the best winger in a AB jersey this season, yet he warmed the bench most of the time. ERROR by Wayne Smith.
2) One AB maul in the game, not enough. ERROR by ‘ELV lover’ Hanson.
3) Joe Rokocoko has done little to change his status of ‘lucky to be in black’. ERROR Wayne Smith.
4) Tactical reading of the game by Dan Carter was awesome, no Carter, no brains in ABs. Donald was a dud!
5) Ma’a Nonu is still a ‘Ken Worth Truck’ and 5 miles an hour. Conrad Smith we need you.
6) After a 3 year wait, Toeava finally didnt screw up a game. This guy has had more chances in the ABs than Bill Clinton with White House interns. Still a very high risk selection. But at 23, I think he will eventually give the ABs some good years as he gets much older and more confident.

The game was won by the ABs getting more players to the breakdown, Aussie were just plain lazy in getting around the paddock. Deans has expressed this fact to be so in today’s papers.

This game was a cheap reward for the desparate AB coaching team who can now say ‘all is back on track’ but it’s all smoke and mirrors until we face the Boks again next year to reverse the 3-0 white wash !

Roll on Summer tour !

Waitakere reader to Your Views: “There are obviously not enough good players in NZ. Perhaps if we merged with Australia, we would have enough players to form a competitive team for the upcoming world cup.”

Letter to Dominion Post: “For sale: One rugby coach, suitable for under-fives. Also for sale, 15 rugby players. Suitable for not terribly much.”

ha ha ha !!!

The ‘ABs Backs’  rugby brains IQ class ranking..

The ‘A’ Class

Carter
Smith
Kahui
Muliaina
Jane

The ‘B’ Class

Toeava
Sivivatu
Rokocoko
Nonu
MacAlister
Donald

When the ABs back line has more “B” class players within it they look lost, lack leader ship, and lose confidence.  This is the difference between and Henry lead coaching team and a Deans lead coaching team, Deans makes a judgement of players rugby IQ, Henry make one more on brawn rather than brains.

Face it some of our boys are just dumb ! Not only in rugby but in worldly matters as well. They cant speak good ! (ha) !

Well after the dance, it was all down hill !

Well done Boks 3-0.

How did they do it ?
1) Kick to known ‘fubbles’ in the ABs back line.
2) Defend like the Greeks.
3) Take 3 points within 60m.
4) Play the new rules, by forcing mistakes in oppositions half.
5) Exploit the lineout advantage.
6) Played off a structured platform. NOT a ELVs hangover style.

What the Boks didnt do. The ran no back line moves, little phase play, little pick and go.

What the ABs havent learnt
1) ELVs for forward play ended before the Tri Nations.
2) Mauls are back.
3) Lineouts are important.
4) Passing skills are important.
5) Catching up and unders are important.

What the Coaches got wrong.
1) Selections of players that are not performing at this level (Donald, Rokocoko)
2) Failing to combat the rolling maul (Hansen is hoping IRB ban it, so he wont coach it, or maybe he cant.)
3) Stupid tactics: Chip kicks in our own half, poor kicking game, poor player selections.
4) Merry go round of swapping positions between Carter and Donald. Experiments in the live test match arena are not on !

What the NZRU have got wrong .
1) Appointing a failed coaching team.
2) Carter Sabbatical.
3) Transforming NZ rugby from structured form of the game to an ELV game. That failed.

Some Points.
1) With out Carter this team is worst ABs team in years.
2) Scrums are adequate.
3) Lineouts are poor.
4) 2nd five eights is open to any one who can take it.
5) Ma’a Nonu is a Ken Worth truck at 5 miles per hour.
6) Joe Roco is hopeless, in attack, defense, under the high ball. But hey he had a great game Auckland vs Northland. So the coaches re selected him.

RWC 2011…we are toast !

Building a team is like RED WINE, a team ages over time and gets better and gets better, dont shake it or stir it !

Source: Robinson steers Stags to top of the table

Southland on top of the table ! What’s better for local rugby, than your provincial team leading the nation in the game for NZders !

A 14 team competition allows the right level of dilution of BEST players around the country so all have a chance to do well. The Super 14 unions dont hog all the best talent !

Sure there a behind the scenes issues with money and provincial CEO stupidity with a 14 team structure, but if the paying public like it, lets keep the ANZC (old NPC)  the way it is. Why not !

Source: Fight brewing Over NZ Rugby Changes – John Alexander

The fans, teams and media love the new NPC (or ANZC)  format. After years of the old NPC format falling way, its back with a vengeance.

But…

…”NZRU rugby manager Neil Sorensen said the biggest problem with the current 14 team format was fitting it into the shortened window. He said the expanded Super competition has taken up the space, and a 10 team format was the only way they can achieve everything the non-Super 14 unions wanted.”..

COMMENTS:You cant have a 14 team NPC format, with an expanded super 14. Well what happens when supper 14 is super 18. Domestic rugby has died, get used to it. Dam the accountants running the SANZAR unions. Remember the ARU doesnt care about our local NPC, the bigger super rugby is the better it is for the ARU. Expect more death nails into the NPC in the future.

Source: Carter named to start against Wallabies

The ABs Team for ‘Dance of Desperates’ in Sydney this Saturday !

             1.                Tony Woodcock (55 Tests)
             2.                Andrew Hore (40)
             3.                Owen Franks (4)
             4.                Brad Thorn (30)
             5.                Isaac Ross (6)
             6.                Jerome Kaino (20)
             7.                Richie McCaw – captain (73)
             8.                Kieran Read (9)
             9.                Jimmy Cowan (25)
             10.             Dan Carter (59)
             11.             Sitiveni Sivivatu (37)
             12.             Luke McAlister (27)
             13.             Conrad Smith (28)
             14.             Josevata Rokocoko (57) : WTF !
             15.             Mils Muliaina (74)

COMMENTS: Can ‘Dan and Luke’ give us some magic. Neither have good form if any at all at the highest level in the last 12 months. Guess you gotta start somewhere.

Please Luke no more intercept passes for the opposition !

Good Luck ABs !

UPDATE1: This is why Henry selection methods are flawed. Joe Rokocoko scored two tries againts an not so good side, and Henry claims that Joe is back in form for the ‘big stuff’. What an arse ! What bullsh*t spin! Reko Gear should have got the nod !

Source: Rokocoko ‘saves his bacon’ in Kerikeri

Weepu, the Ab’s second choice half back who’s form that has been lacking,  is a FATTY !

Half backs must be like spring chickens running around the paddock !

Weepu has not been doing the fitness work ! If he cant measure up he should not be in the squad !!

Too slow, due to too much weight, huff and puff around the paddock…dont believe me…watch the next game !

Source: All Blacks are not panicking  – Toby Robson

Dan Carter rushed back into the ABs !

The frail egos of the coaches need a win, to get the ugly NZ public off there back so they can spin ‘the ship is on course’ bullsh*t again !

Dan is good, but Dans ability is a band aid over the other short comings of other players. The most obvious short coming is confidence and the decision making that goes with it under pressure. And of course playing a stupid ‘circus rugby style’ when the players selected dont have the skills. The team needs a simply ABC pattern to crawl up the paddock, to get in position to apply pressure and SCORE !

Yeah I know I have been on Henry’ case, but in the last year: what is the game pattern, failed selections, poor tactics under pressure.

The AB’s under Henry is on a down hill trend ! The top two inches of the coaches rugby brains have gone to mush !

Henry can find it in himself to walk away, ego is way to large !

ABs are doomed ! Sorry to say that, but I hope the players defy the coaches tactics and play percentage rugby, and toss this idea of high risk circus show rugby style !

Source: League experiment flops for ARU

Ever wonder why Rugby League has been associated with the blue collar of society and rugby an upper class sport. You don’t need to be too bright to understand that after you read this statement from ‘not to smart Rogers’.

It was a bitter Rogers, 33, who decried rugby for being too bogged down in technicalities, compared to rugby league where he now plays with Gold Coast Titans.

“I’m not surprised people struggle to follow it because I played it for five years and I still struggle to understand the rules,” Rogers said.

“The whole technical aspect of rugby is just too much. There’s the lineouts, the scrummaging and the breakdown laws you have to worry about. It’s just information overload. Rugby is not for me.”

COMMENT:  As I have said before Rugby is like CHESS and LEAGUE is like checkers, some folks just cant play both. Lucky for Rogers he uses his athletic ability to make a buck and not his brains.

There made of sterner stuff, fresh, better rugby brains, they will save the nations number one game from more embarrassment: Here they are

Ginger Bread Men doing the haka !

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oulQwIP9VQQ

ha ha!

Dan Carter can he save us ? Hope his rugby form is better than his dancing form..

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ91X6u2Jc4

…oooh my god, we are in the sh*t !

Source: Sorry Graham Henry, denial is not the solution – Toby Robson

Graham Henry think the game plan was fine? Steve Hansen doesn’t want to call in a specialist to help with the lineouts? Wayne Smith believes long kicks are a waste of time?

It has the same delusional tone as comments this season on the form of wing Joe Rokocoko and the “international class” of first-five Stephen Donald.

Rugby is a game of territory because it’s easier to score points when you are in the opposition’s half. To deny such tenets of the game is dangerous

Dummies guide to winning rugby games:
1) Territory
2) Pressure
3) Possession
4) Once pressure and territory achieved spin out wide.

Grant Fox and Auckland did this for years ‘bread and butter’, easy peasy.

Winning rugby tactics havent changed for a 100 years. Call you Grandma, she could do a better coaching  job!

NOTE: Players are fine in my book, I see there error as 75% with the coaches. Tactics must be selected that equal the players skill level aligned with weeks of training.  The instructions issued before Durban were just wrong, AGAIN !

When Henry’s under pressure, a loss from the previous week, dodgy team playing performance in most recent games. These are some of the tactical blunders Henry’s mob undergoes:

1) Select players who have had no rugby, and are expected to perform at the highest level: Brendon Leonard

2) Select tactics that only super men against a weaker team can execute. That’s run it wide, or chip kick and near every opportunity.

3) Select in the words of Henry himself a high risk strategy when the opposing team have excellent goal kickers.

4) Selecting a game plan that could possible be called ‘high risk’ in the first place.

5) Knowing your up against the best lineout in the world, selecting a shorter No8 over a taller No8 (ie Sooialo vs Read).

6) Chip kicks are extremely high risk, a short kick nearly 90% of the time gives the ball to opposition within the 10 yard circle that the kick was made. Have you ever seen a lessor team beat a better team with this tactic, no never ! Its is only used when it is known an opposing player often is out of position and clear space is available to have a chance to get the ball back.

This is not Henry first tactical blunder: The other most obvious blunder was ABs vs France RWC 2007, when the call came for ‘play for a penalty’ in the second half. What AB team plays to get penalties? Will next blunder be ABs vs Boks RWC 2011?

Ask your self this : What is the ABs game plan? What pattern do the ABs fall back on when times are tough? 

A: There isn’t one, Henry jumps around tactics at will. The players become jack of all trades patterns and master of NONE !

The the most successful ABs coach Grizz Wiley (25 winning test matches in a row) formed a game plan (pattern) that all knew how to play when the heat was on. This is what Canterbury had  under Robbie Deans, and this what he is trying to do with the Aussies.

Coaches are to blame more so than players. I call on the players to defy the coachs instructions and play percentage football.

Source: All Black coaches need to step up or walk away – Richard Loe

God Bless him…has he a coaching whistle !
(NOTE: These comments were after the 1st test against the Boks, not the second, still relevant dont you think!)

Extracts..

The issues are:

Selection – why was Brendon Leonard playing? Answer, according to Graham Henry: To give him a game. But this was a test. Against the world champions. Leonard had a nightmare. If he needed a game, there was the Waikato club final and then the Air New Zealand Cup. You don’t play test rugby unless you are ready for it. This has happened time and again. Jimmy Cowan had to play.

Tight five – I felt our tight five simply weren’t aggressive enough and, for much of that match, seemed as though they were awed by the physicality of the Springboks. That’s mental toughness. Yes, the players involved have to wear some of the blame for that but it is also a coaching basic – to provide the environment from which that belief comes.

Lineouts – we are still (still!) having huge problems at the lineout. Our throwers are not finding the mark and, for some reason that escapes me, our jumpers do not contest the opposition throw. I have spoken to ex-All Blacks and coaches up and down this country and none of them knows why we are not contesting. Jason Eaton must have been the worst sub in the last decade but he at least jumped and won one ball – probably against orders.

Basics – we are still struggling with basics like restarts and kick-offs and, when the All Blacks lost the test last weekend, it was down to organisation (or lack of it). Piri Weepu took an age to organise players and then threw a shoddy pass. But this is the All Blacks. Weepu should not have to organise players like that. All Blacks should know what to do in such situations – they should not have to be organised. Not when they are paid that much and when they are coached by so many coaches.

The backs – our back three looked hopeful, at best. Mils Muliaina has had two or three very quiet tests now and Joe Rokocoko just isn’t doing the business. Their confidence looks down. Conrad Smith was really the only back to shine although Stephen Donald did okay.(BLOG: What are you smoking ?)

If the three coaches can’t do it, maybe it’s time to sever the links. Many people have said that Colin Cooper and Ian Foster aren’t up to the job but I am beginning to think that they would at least bring in some new thinking – they couldn’t do much worse.Or … I hear Warren Gatland is on holiday in Waihi.

This is all this current crop of ABs can do, a silly dance before they get hammered.

Quick paragraphs to tell the truth.

Missing a World Class 1st Five: Having Dan Carter in the side hid the truth behind the talent curtain of other ABs. Talent is missing. Some guys are leaders and some are followers. We are seeing the followers play, and they are lost. I wonder if other countries will allow their star 1st five to have a sabbatical ? Thinking, thinking…well done CEO Tew !

Trend of 2009 Season: Donald and Rokocoko are not world class players, more like average Super 14 players. The coaches realised this when they subbed Donald off. Heed what Laurie Mains said on Henry, “…but every team he’s coached, towards the end of his time with them, they’ve dropped away.”

Class of Players: Remember the days if a back dropped the ball or did a bad pass the standards were so high, that player most likely lost his position the next week or was dropped entirely from the squad. Thats missing these days. How to beat the ABs, kick high to an AB back, he cant catch it, apply pressure, win possession, then score.

ABs Coach Tactical Blunder AGAIN: Remember RWC 2007, when the ABs backs are up against the wall the coachs chose tactics that dont suite the abilities of the players they have selected. It happened last night, AGAIN! (Maybe Henry called John Hart for help prior the game) What ever happened to kick for advantageous territory, build pressure and attack when the holes appear. Rather than run from any ware, or useless little kicks that fuel the oppositions possession stakes.

Trend of Bad Selections: Wouldn’t it be better to see players like Howlett (Auck) and Hamilton (Cant) in the side. Henry has selected players that are very good only some of the time, players that switch from good to awful at a drop of hat. A player goes over seas when they get the feeling that they are not on the selection radar. Remember this is coaching mob is the same mob that has been selecting Toeava for years, Howlett would have been a better investment.

Forward Still Playing Under ELVs: Hansen hasn’t gotten it through his head yet that ‘forwards should play a loose’ all of the time, is over. The Boks play a much more traditional forward game (that includes mauling). Lineouts continue to be a lost art, I guess Ali Williams is missing there. You have consistent winning rugby when the forward pack is the better on the field. “The big mean boks bullied us all game, I gonna tell my mum” ..said the ABs forward.

Coachs Failed: Henry for tactics, Hansen for inept forwards display, Smith for player selection in the backs. Thank god they have been selected for the home RWC in NZ, yeah, real good (Tui: Yeah Right !). By now you must see the missed chance of selecting Robbie Deans for ABs coach might just be the biggest blunder leading into RWC 2011. This blog has called for sacking Smith from the start, he should never have been given ABs coaching duties after his wet blanket head coaching display. Thanks Steve Tew. I wonder if Henry has called for the video tape so he can explain to the NZRU board that the Welsh ref cost him the game. AGAIN !

You learn more from the losses than you do on the wins. Some players should not be ABs. But my final conclusion is that the ABs are missing the decision makers at half back and first five. Add to this the wrong advice from the coaches box and you have a team that is like a fish out of water. I remember the days when Zinny said, we not doing that, defied coaches advice, and corrected the ship and went forward. I bet if you turn on the night goggles you would see the wires from the players brains to the coaches boxes, players are mere puppets these days. Leadership on the field is lost to the control freaks sitting in the coaches boxes.

WARNING: THE CALL FOR OVERSEAS PLAYERS. If  you hear this cry from Henry it will because he has stuffed up so badly with his history of selections that he must claw back his bad decisions and get players back. As we have seen with MacAlister years away from the cauldron of international rugby, skills and timing can be lost. So players from overseas wont make any difference.

How to fix it:
1) Sack Henry, Smith, Hansen
2) Select as new coaches: Your grandmother from Gisborne, your Uncle Bob from Wanaka, and Auntie Mary from North land. I bet they would do a better job.

Source: Second rugby ref pushed to improve test spectacle – Daniel Gilhooly

Introducing a second referee to top level rugby is a possible solution to offside play that is strangling the All Blacks’ counter-attack, according to assistant coach Wayne Smith.

Smith said referees are ignoring the law which states players in front of the kicker must remain behind a perceived 10m line right across the field from the kick receiver until put onside. There used to be an imaginary 10m circle around the receiver but that had been changed by lawmakers to encourage more counter-attack.

“I think the ideal behind the law changes is to have a more flowing game and a counterattacking game. . . but I don’t think we have seen that yet because I don’t think that law has been applied very well,” Smith said.

This is true. But what are the Assistant Refs doing for a living !

Offside law is applied very strictly in league and soccer to ensure space for players to move. Rugby has 15 players on the field, the sports mentioned have 13 and 11. So offside play is very important, and must be stopped. I would try a 2nd ref, but only allow him to do off sides and foul play. Then the players know there is a ‘ZERO’ window to infringe.

Yes I think the game would be better for it, but another ref or the current refs doing there job better ! Hmmm !

The ABs spent only 2 minutes in the Boks 22 in the first half. The ABs fueled the ball possession of the Boks by penalties and dumb mistakes. The the ref liked the roar of the home town crowd when he penalised the ABs as well.

If this ABs side was a batch of pancakes, half of them were under cooked, and some aren’t pancakes at all.

NOT PANCAKES (or should not be ABs)
Donald – Kicked well, but decision making still at Super 14 level.
Nonu – Super 14 is his level. He is a ‘fridge’ standing outside 1st five, not too smart, cant kick, no pace. Easy mark for someone who can tackle.
Tialata – Breaks down every test match. His bench replacement does better.
Eaton – Was a bright light 2 years back, but whats happened.

UNDER COOKED PANCAKES (Can be ABs, not there yet)
Leonard – Not enough experience on the park in the big games, shows promise.
Rokocoko – Huge holes in his game, more so in defense. First Bok try was evident of that.
So Oialo – Maybe past it, Read looks good when he come on. Maybe more games will bring his form back.
Weepu – Hot and cold. He was very cold in the 63rd minute of the game.
McAlister – As we saw against the French he has lost some class on his revenue collection mission up north.

63rd Minute of the Game – DISASTER
Weepu passing, Eatons positional play: Two players that basically went all stupid and while the ABs were in a catch up rugby mode. Really dumb rugby.

You learn more from loses that you do from wins. You cant fix this team with coaching, some players just shouldn’t be there. Maybe due to injury and lack of depth nothing can be done. The Boks are getting there rewards from ‘team building time’ by playing consistent players in specialised positions. Maybe we should learn something there.

You cant expect much this year from ABs, critical injuries and player losses after last world cup are still hurting the team. And of course some of the coaching has not been that great. Back line especially.

Conrad Smith, Thorn, Kaino, WoodCock all did very well.

Go the ABs better luck in Durban !