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Transcript

Rugby Direct - Episode 179 · Rugby Direct

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Straight down the middle.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: Of Drum Dickney scud By, try.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Get inside the game from every angle. It's Rugby Direct
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: with Elliot Smith and Leam Napier powered by News Talks EDB.
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: Welcome in to Rugby Direct powered by Access Solutions, elevating
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: you and your business to a higher level. Elliott Smith
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: with me as always Liam Napier.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: Liam.
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: Another big weekends in rugby and we'll get to the
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: shield a bit later on. That was the most important
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: result of the weekend. Sides that they happen, No, no, no,
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: we'll get a deep dive into that a bit later on.
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: Don't worry about that. The Black Ferns beating Ireland as
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: well in a very impressive result. Australia beats Argentina. But
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: we are here to discuss primarily the All Blacks and
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: spring Box and the All Blacks twenty four to seventeen
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: winners over the Box. Leam in a weird way, like
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: it feels like Christmas is It's like a few days
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: after Christmas where you're sort of lying on the couch
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: the things have been and gone, you sort of you
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: play with the new toys and there's a bit of
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: a coumdown. We still have another test match to go
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: this weekend, which we'll get up for a few days.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: But everything was building to that test match at Eden
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Park on the weekend. Did it deliver?
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: It's a good analogy that.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: I haven't got my sweatpants on and don't quite need
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: a nap.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: But the Boxing day test to watch either.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: But the comedown is accurate, wasn't it.
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: That was just the hype, the anticipation, the build up,
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: all eyes trains fixed on Eden Park. It really was
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: an occasion to savor and I think it did largely deliver.
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: I can't remember certainly in recent times a comparable atmosphere
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: New Zealand context. Eden Park was buzzing, you know. Three
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: hours before the match. I was driving in from the
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: North Shore and bus stops are packed with South African fans.
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: As soon as the gates open, South African fans are
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: flooding through. It was probably eighty twenty seventy thirty. There
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: were a lot of South Africans, a lot of people
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: making gags about if you're going to raid.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: The north Shore.
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: That was the night to do it, and the match itself,
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: look I had a bit of everything. The All Blacks
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: pulled away to fourteen point leads, but couldn't put the
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: box to beds some late drama, Ardie Severe stands up
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: and the All Blacks prevailed to preserve Eden Park. When
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: the euphoria dies down and the satisfaction for the All
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: Blacks and the soreness subsides, the spectacle itself wasn't amazing,
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: but because of the context of the match, the intensity
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: of it, it really did grip you.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: It did, and that all plays into it, doesn't it.
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: You look back in a couple of days on and
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: the Test match may not seem as good as you
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: thought in the moment. There were errors that a lot
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: of errors in the game from both sides, but when
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: you're swept up in that eighty minutes plus of rugby,
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: that doesn't matter because it delivered in all facets.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: Let's break it down a little bit.
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: Great start from the All Blacks and ninety seconds Indy
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: another way slides through Willie LaRue's legs, but a greasy
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: surface gets up and goes throws the dummy scores in
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: the right wing corner. The All Backs couldn't have dreamed
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: for a better start, and that sort of set the
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: tone that they could play in front for the rest
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: of the match.
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: Well, the first two tries are real ticks for the
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: All Blacks because set piece moves. The first is Jason
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: Holland it's come from a line out and Finlay Christie's
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: at first receiver Bowden bar it's a bit wider, allowing
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: him more time and space for that crossfield kick.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: It wasn't perfect.
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: Ammonia Nadawa did really well to first of all catch it,
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: and then it was Willie LaRue. Wasn't it over read
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: it a little bit and he sort of went under
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: his legs fireman escape and the dummy to the line.
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: And then the second one another line out move which
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: as Bryan Evans, there were at least two fake jumps.
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: They go along to Wallace a tit and the inside
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: ball to will Jordan's. So two set piece moves that
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: the All Blacks have pulled out of the pocket and
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: executed to perfection to have that brilliant start. So there's
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: been a bit of a bit of criticism this year
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: over the All Blacks attack, and rightly so, and I
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: think there's still question marks over how the back line's functioning.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: But those were two massive ticks.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: They were and the All Blacks scoring in the second
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: spell through Quint and Pie and they scored three tries.
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: It's hard to remember them having too many more opportunities
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: than that. A lot of the talk has been about
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: the All Blacks not icing their opportunities on Saturday night.
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: They didn't get many opportunities, but you'd have to say
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: they've probably iced the three that they did get on
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: the night they did.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: And I think another big tick there for Quinn to Pie.
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: He was only on the field for a short space
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: of time while Jordi Barrett was having his HIA assessment.
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: Maybe we'll touch on that in terms of the mouthguard
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: readings at some point, but Quinn when he was on
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: the field really did straighten the point of attack and
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: it's something that I don't think we've seen enough of
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: from Jordi Barrett this year that by no means was
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: a straight running for Quinn. Here to be at least
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: two defenders popped off as his foots, there's a step
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: and he broke another tackle. So that should have been
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: the decisive score for the All Blacks put them up
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: for a second time in the second half by fourteen points,
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: but it was anything but a clinical finish. They really
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: did leave the door ajar for the Box to come
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: back in a number of regards. They had the massive
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: pushover scrum which led to Quaker Smith the box first try.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: There were was at least I think two penalties from
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: dupless Carefi which put the All Blacks on their own line.
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: Then Ardie Severe gets that massive turnover and then the
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: All Blacks are preparing to kick the ball out to
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: finish the match and the Box get another turnover. So
• 6:29
  Speaker 5: it was high stakes drama. The match report almost went
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: out the window. Everyone's on the edge of their seats.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: They didn't make it an easy watch to finish the day.
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: No, they didn't, and that's perhaps we'll get onto the
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: scrums as well, but that would be the one frustration
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: is that they had those fourteen point leads and weren't
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: able to put a bit more scoreboard pressure on and
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: build that lead they didn't get. As I said before,
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: I don't think they've got a great number of opportunities
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: in that game. But if they could extend out to
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: seventeen you can then begin to play a little bit
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: freer with that justification that you've built up that two
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: converted tries plus lead and they just weren't able to
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: get to that margin, be it through through penalty goals,
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: dropped on whatever it might bean, just to really put
• 7:11
  Speaker 4: that pressure, because fourteen points sounds like a lot, really isn't.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: You could cut that to seven and you get some
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: momentor back like South Africa did on the night, then
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: do you become the team under pressure trying to hold
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: onto that lead. And the All Blacks had to play
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: through that and they managed to close out the game
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: despite all of that, which I suppose if you look
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: at it as a positive, you can you can give
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: it a tick.
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: They did, and I think one of the big wins
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: for the All Blacks was defensively, and while they weren't
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: clinical necessarily and the way they finished that game, there
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: was enough composure there and their scrambling defense got them
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: out of jail. And defensively they put a lot of
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: pressure on the spring box.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: There's some really good things they did.
• 7:53
  Speaker 5: Simon Parker switching to blindside, that's one hundred percent his
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: position and he really did not break bodies, but he
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: brought a real physicality to his defense. I think he
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: led the tackle count with fifteen and the match tupou
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: Vai and Scott Barrett's harrised Grant Williams all Day rattled
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: him from a box kicking perspective, really put a lot
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: of pressure on him.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: That was another big win.
• 8:23
  Speaker 5: So defensively the All Blacks really stepped up because I
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: remember they must forty tackles in their last match against
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: the Pumas. That was partly due to those three yellow cards.
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I think the context is important, isn't it,
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: Because there's so much pressure on this All Black team.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: You're coming off a defeat the biggest test of Scott
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: Robertson's coaching career, the World champions coming to town, wanting
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: to storm the fortress their first match. They haven't won
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: an Eton Park against the All Blacks in eighty eight years.
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: There was just so much on the line and if
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: the All Blacks lose that match, the Wolves really do
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: start to cave in. So you cannot understate the importance
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: of just winning that match.
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: No you can't, and that was the primary primary target
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: of the night. They managed to do that and we
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: talked a bit about Jason Ryan. We'll get on to
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: some of the other intricacies of the game in the moment,
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: but it's now backing it up this weekend. We'll look
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: a bit Ford in a moment, but the challenge has
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: now been laid down. That's the not necessarily the standard
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: of the All Blacks, but the sean they can deliver
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: under pressure.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: You've got to back it up and do it again.
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: You do and look, as with all every performances, things
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: to improve. The All Black set piece wasn't great. That
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: the lineout wobbled at times, and the scrum obviously there
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: was that massive tight head which Jason Rhyme put down
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: to Tyrol Lomax losing his footing and then massive eight
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: man shoved from the spring box by There are other
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: occasions where they were penalized as well, so the set
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: piece always a massive battleground and the spring box lineout
• 10:01
  Speaker 5: though that was even worse.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: They lost a lot of ball there.
• 10:05
  Speaker 5: Malcolm Marx was penalized for decision whether it's throwing. I
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: think they lost another throw and Grant Williams spills one
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: off the top, so it really was an error rutal
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: performance from the spring Box and.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Also stylistically highly predictable.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: Yes, very predictable, and the All Blacks forced the box
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: into eras from individuals that we wouldn't usually see. Hondre
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Pollard throws the ball into touched Damian de Lende. I
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: mean every play is culpable to a knock on. I
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: was susceptible to a knock on rather, but Delende made
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: a couple of uncharacteristic errors. Grant Williams, who is I
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: think very very good halfback, was put under a lot
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: of pressure, didn't respond very well, probably one of his
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: worst Test matches, and so they were predictable. But the
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: All Blacks also forced some of those errors out of
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: their game, and I think for the spring Box they
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: missed having Malcolm Marx come off the bench in the
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: closing stages of a Test match, which is where by
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: and large he's played the majority of his Test career,
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: at least in the last five or so years. Gambanambi
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: usually starts in that two Juesday, Marx comes off of
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: the bench and it's part of that bomb squad with
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: Bogie staying behind. With some personal reasons. In South Africa,
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: Marx gets elevated to the run on side. Jan Hendrix's
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: vessels didn't seem to have a lot of confidence and
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: him only came on with twelve minutes to go. But
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: I think I missed that bomb squad to an extent
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: on the weekend, and they were rather patchy in the
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: way that they utilized their subs. So I mean recording
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: this mid afternoon, sorry, at midday on a Monday, Russy's
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: pulled his team announcement forward to Monday night. I would
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: suspect that we'll see some of those individuals that struggled
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: on Saturday night changed out. But I would also suspect
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: we'll see maybe a six to two, if not a
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: seven to one bench comes Saturday night again.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: It's very unrussy like to inject your props and hookers
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: with ten fifteen minutes ago, isn't it.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: They normally go straight after halftime.
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: So the composition of that bench was a surprise, and
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: how he used as substitutions was different. Russey also made
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: it clear and the lead up to that game that
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand, you have
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: to score twenty five twenty eight points and look, I'm
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: gonna put it bluntly the way the Springboks played, They're
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: not going to score that many points. They needed to
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: play more rugby. Maybe if they were a bit more
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: clinical and their set piece element with the line out,
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: that they could have collected a bit more points. Andre
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: Polla miss his first shot at goal this year off
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: the tee, but they scored their first try through Quager
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: Smith deep into the second half. I just think they
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: need to bring a bit more, you know, that midfield
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: lifting more.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: I don't even know what to call that.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the midfield line out sort of thing.
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: Girl Black shut that down. That that was the only
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: real piece of innovation, if you want to call it,
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: that surprise element that the spring Box tried to bring.
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: I think they need to do more to score that
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: amount of points to beat the All Blacks at home,
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: don't they they do?
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: I saw this morning and it was well telegraphed. It's
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: brett Igo. I think it's he pronounced it Brett rug
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: analyst on X put up the video of the All
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: Blacks reading that, and there's a moment where Scott Barrett
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: sees it happening to pop Va gets and also disrupts it.
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: But the All Blacks read that they saw it coming,
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: they saw them positioning for it. I suspect the Box
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: won't try that again in Wellington.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: No, you wouldn't think so.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: And the other element is It's been a lot made
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: of Tony Brown's presence in that Spring Bok camp. Well
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: I didn't see anything of Tony Brown's innovations in that performance.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: Well, it was interesting.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Stephen Kittsoff spoke to our colleague Darcy Watergrave last week
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: and he was asked about what role Tony Brown could
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: have this week and he basically said that he suspected
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: Russy was going to drown out whatever Tony Brown was
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: suggesting this week. They were going to play the type
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: and they did. And that's how The Box clearly want
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: to play. And it's hard to see them expanding too
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: much for Wellington this weekend.
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think they do need to be a bit
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: more ambitious in the way they go about it, whether
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: that's bringing on Sasha or Fussy, you know, going to
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: some of these younger guys, because the other element to
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: this performance is Russy needs to give these young guys
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: some time because they're not going to be back in
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: New Zealand for a couple at least a couple of years,
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: and there is this question hanging over the Springbok team
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: of regeneration and if you're not going to give these
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: young guys the exposure and trust them, then then when
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: on the flip sides. We've talked a lot about there
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: about the springbox style, what about the All Blacks because
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: they weren't exactly hugely ambitious either, and conditions were tough.
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: It was wet, it was slippery, which made handling difficult,
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: but at times it really was a box kickthon.
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and the All Blacks brought into that and they
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: did say as during the week that that was probably
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: the way that they were going to attack. And look,
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: do you chance your arm or do you just get
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: into the fight and get into the trenches with the
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: way that the opposition wants to play. Probably the conditions
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: that you said played a little bit of a part
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: in that, but it was for at least the first
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: sixty minutes the game very much played between the twenty
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: between the twenty twos, excuse me from the Kresty Box
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: gets Grant Williams returns fire and then when you get
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: into a bit more of outfield play, Boten bout Andre Pollard.
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: The fifteens are going back and forth against each other.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: It was a night for kicking. I think it was
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: about seventy combined kicks through the night. It was well telegraphed.
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: I would like to see the All Blacks be a
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: little bit more ambitious with that. But their game plan
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: on the night worked. They got the win. So it's
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: hard for me, I think, to be a little to
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: any sorry to be too critical of that, because they yes,
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: they kind of adapted their game plan to suit, but
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: they also beat it. The from what's game plan Russia
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: Rastlin's conceded post match that they were beaten in the
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: aerial battle. Now, fourteen days prior in Argentina and Buenos Aidres,
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: the All Blacks had been well beaten in their aerial contest.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: On Saturday night, they beat the Box in the aerial contest.
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: I think in that match, a win is a win
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: and you take that anyway it comes. But I think
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: we are potentially seeing and stop me if I'm wrong here,
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: But for me, raisor Robinson's Crusaders weren't overly ambitious either.
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: That they squeezed you, you know, when the pressure came on,
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: they went to their set piece, they kicked their goals
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: and yeah, there was some individual moments of brilliance from
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: the lights of Richiemuwonga, but they weren't held to skelter,
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: move the ball, throw it around.
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: Well no, you're right, they squeezed, put the pressure on
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: and to go back to what I was saying earlier,
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: that allowed them sometimes to build up those leads which
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: allowed them to play a little bit more freer and change,
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: you know, different different pictures for their back line.
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and just on that, here's some state that's in.
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: It's very Unall Black like. Okay, so clean breaks in
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: this tournament the Wallabies have twenty two, South Africa twenty Argentina,
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: thirteen New Zealand six six six meters gained. The All
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: Blacks have seven hundred and the other three teams are
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: in the one thousand and one one hundred and ninety
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: plus defenders beaten. The All Blacks are third as well,
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: fifty nine compared to Argentina and Australia's eighty one. So
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: that really does speak to I guess the style that
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: they're playing and partly the concerns that have been eared
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: around the back line attack. But should we be concerned.
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: Are those numbers alarming?
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: They are a little bit, But I'd hasten to add that,
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: you know, South Africa, you wouldn't expect, you know, there's
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: going to be a minimal number of line breaks per game.
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: Now they're very poor in as ideas, and that's where
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: a lot of those numbers are contributed from. Even in Qurdaba,
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: they didn't quite get their game going. So I suppose
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: if you're two wins one loss from the tournament, you
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: want to see more line breaks, but you want to
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: see wins primarily, and if they're getting the points on
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: the board in other ways, be it through those set
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: plays and moves off.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: The line out. I just want to see wins from
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: the All Blacks. Spe quite on us.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, if they play an exceptional brand of attacking rugby, great,
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: But primarily this team needs to win.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree to an extent.
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: I think wins matter and test rugby right, and records matter,
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: and coaching careers, playing careers are defined by results. So
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: first of almost one hundred percent, I think the All
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: Blacks can, with the athletes they have, with the skills
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: they have, play more, and that doesn't have to be
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: erratic or outrageous. But I just look at guys. The
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: All Blacks look really good when their forwards offload, you know,
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: Wallace to tt to Mighty williams Ardie severe. That second
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: phase footy makes them really dangerous and I think they
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: can counter more as well. When there is that proliferation
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: of kicking coming your way. I think that does open
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: up opportunities. But yeah, I think there's an elements of
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: the conditions of it being winter South Africa. Very good defensively,
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: they put a lot of pressure on the breakdown and
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: I think missing cam Rugard as well as a big out.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I would like to see the All Blacks
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: play a wee bit more.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: In some of those stets areund the carries, line breaks,
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: a lot of them I'm suspecting would have come from
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: that first game at Alice Park where it was really
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: open thirty eight twenty two. Off the top of my head,
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: the box played expansively. The Wallabies had to chase the game,
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: therefore they were playing expansively. So whether there's something in
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: the stats that you know, suggest that maybe they're above
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: the usual for this point of time in the Rugby Championship,
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: I don't know, But maybe blowing out slightly from that
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: game in particular.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's aren't the beer or an end all.
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: They can be skewed, but I think it's very un
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: All Black like to be at the bottom or ranked
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: near the bottom of all of those.
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: We talked a bit about the scrums earlier. Is that
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: a worry for you that they were pinged? You know,
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: Carl Dixon obviously saw Ethan de Group was frustrated by
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: some of the rulings when he was going up against
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: Thomas de Toy, but the Toy had the better of
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: him a couple of scrum penalties and then William's Lomax
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: come on scrum probably goes backwards even further. These are
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: the two primary scrummages went fit for the All Blacks,
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: and they just couldn't get it going on Saturday night.
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: I think it is a concern because, as you say,
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: Tomighty Williams entire Lomax, the expectation was those guys would
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: come on and lift the performance, lift the scrummaging, and
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: that certainly didn't happen. Maybe it's an element of playing
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: a second string French team playing Argentina who have gone
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: backwards in their scrummaging ability and coming up against probably
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: the best scrummaging team in the world and not meeting
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: that standard or interpretations, combination of all those things. But
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: it was Ethan the group talked to the Goal Sports breakfast,
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: didn't he and he was talking about how the All
• 21:29
  Speaker 5: Blacks have been scrummaging against ten men, so they certainly
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: didn't lack the preparation.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: Might need to make a twelve this week, yeah, call.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Us and to jump on the scrum machine.
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: But look, that's an area that they All Blacks pride
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: themselves on and they will be hurt by their performance
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: in that regard.
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: They will indeed anything through that add from the game
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: itself on Saturday night and was great.
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: Oh mate, how good? And for me that really speaks
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: to the respect between the two and Test nations. And
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: I was reading comments on the Auckland Schools choir.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: Aukland School specific a choir.
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: Yep, just South African anthem is probably my favorite in
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: the world. It's five languages and that was one of
• 22:16
  Speaker 5: the best renditions I've ever heard. And the praise from
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: South Africans on social media about that speaks to how
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: well it was done. And also just the marker respect
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: between the two rugby nations. And I did read the
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: comments about how in the Northern Hemisphere it's often just
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: a instrumental and I remember you'd know that you were there.
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: In Ireland last year there was some issue with the
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: New Zealand anthem.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: I think they cut it after the.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: Multi first.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was only half of it.
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: It's a very emotive thing, the anthem, and so that
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: really did set the tone beautiful rendition and yeah, I
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: think for what's to come we do it all again
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: in Wellington this week.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: How good?
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: Speaking of the all black side for this weekend, what
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: changes are you picking? I think there's a fairly obvious
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: one in terms of Cody Taylor not being there, Sammasoni Takya,
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: who will come in, Brody McAllister off the bench. There's
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: one change Jason Ryan described Murni Dandawah is highly unlikely.
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: We will not see him this sweek in So what
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: do you do there? Do you bring in Caleb Clark
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: on the left wing? Move Ricca Yuanni to the right
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: is at least defying a Nuoku time. What's your feeling
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: at this point of the week.
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: It's hard with Caleb Clark because he's a specialist left winger,
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: isn't he? So I would have picked him last week?
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: Would I would definitely pick him this week. He was
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: good for Auckland again, he's had those two games. He's
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: your best aerial exponent. You know that's where the box
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: are going to come for you get him in there. Personally,
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: I don't want to see Seva Reese recalled. I think
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: that that's the easy option. But you made the tough
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: call to drop him. I think he's a bit of
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: a liability from a card point of view, is quite
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: erratic in the way he buzzes about the fields. I
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: would love to see Lee were a car to get
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: to go. Yeah, I don't think they'll go that way.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: I think they will potentially shift Rico to the right wing.
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: The other option is they finished the way they where
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: they start the way they finished Saturday night, Damien McKenzie
• 24:22
  Speaker 5: at fallback and Will Jordan on the wing. But Will
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: Jordan's not going great under the high ball, is he.
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: No, he's kind of off the last couple of games.
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: I know whether it's the escort rule that's maybe changed
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: some of the way that he catches the ball, and
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: whether he's struggling to adapt to that, but he's been
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: off his game the last couple of Test matches for
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: the All Blacks midfield. You retain the starting midfield BROLLI
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: drums still juries out for there were. The crossfield kick
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: in the twenty two was bizarre. I'm not sure whether
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: Will Jordan called for that or not, but that was
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: a little odds. He was serviceable on Saturday night, but
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: again just I'm not sure whether he's the long term
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: answer at thirteen is yet for the All Blacks.
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: Hasn't convinced yet, but I don't think you pull that
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: leave for this game. I would be very tempted to
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: bring Lester Fining a Nooku in, but look, it'd be
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: harsh on Quinta Pye for me, Lisa's pushing for a
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: bench roll and I don't think he could drop Quinn
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: on the impact he had off the bench. So maybe
• 25:26
  Speaker 5: Lester has to sit idle for the Wallabies. Hard to
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: see too many other changes. The only other one is
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: Noah Hotham. Sounds like he is ahead of schedule. He
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: got through quite a bit of training in Auckland last week,
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: so does he come on to the bench.
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: I think he comes onto the bench if he's fits.
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: It didn't sound positive for Cortez Ratima. That may change
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: in the next couple of days. He was out training
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: last week, but certainly sounded like nah Hotham was more
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: likely than Ratama. I think you stick with Christy for
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: this week still what concerns about Christie's kicking, But I
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: think it'd be a lot to ask Kotham to come
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: in having not played a lot of rugby really since
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: well Super rugby. Apart from that twenty minute can be
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: off the bench against France and Hamilton to start against
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: the spring Box.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: Christie did a serviceable job on Saturday night.
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: Don't think it's moved him into the top three rankings
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: of half backs in the country, but I would stick
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: with them for this weekend.
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think so too. And it's going to be
• 26:26
  Speaker 5: a similar scene in Wellington. I think rain likely, probably windy.
• 26:30
  Speaker 5: You can pretty much bank on that swirling one. There'll
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: be plenty of high ball kicks, so it's.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: Just day ending and wife.
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: Well, Chris is going to be asked to replicate that
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: sort of performance, isn't it. The other point to note
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: is how good was Tupo VI going back into Locke
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: that he one hundred percent has to stay there that
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: you can pare his performance on the blind side to
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: lock the Poles apart.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Well.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: I thought Scott Barrett was probably his best Test match
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: of the season as well, and it felt like maybe
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: just having two po Vi there helped. On Saturday night,
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: you know, Fabi in Holand I think he said a
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: really good introduction to test rugby. But that domination last
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: year of Barret and Viae was the All Blacks first
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: choice and I think they've now got back to that point.
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: I don't know what it means for Fabi and Holland,
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure that bench is his role necessarily and
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: a team we've seen what tweet be Lord you can do,
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: so there's a question mark there. But I wouldn't be
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: tampering with that for the weekend. And I thought Simon
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: Parker clearly showed that he may well be I'm not
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: calling it just yet, but may now be the answer
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: to the All Blacks at blindside.
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, early doors second test, but what that is the
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: type of performance the All Blacks want from their blindside
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: just really combative and what it does do is gives
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: that loose trio the balance it needs yep, because you've
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: got Wallace to Tito, who's your ball carrier, who's got
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: great feet at the line. He brings those offloads Artie
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: severe allows him to potentially attack the breakdown. It just
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: frees those two guys up where Simon Parker's contesting defensive rucks,
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: he's knocking over defenders. He's making those hard ball carries,
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: doing that grunt work. That's what you want, and he
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: was His presence was evident at the line out as well.
• 28:13
  Speaker 5: He's a big man. So look, the All Blacks have
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: been keen on him, haven't they this year? And you're
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: starting to see why. And if you're going to put
• 28:22
  Speaker 5: a performance like that and against the spring box, that
• 28:24
  Speaker 5: is a real marker.
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: Indeed, right, we will take a break here on Rugby Direct.
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: Come back with the second half after this we have
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: the black Ferns to talk about saying we have a
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: shield changing hands, as well as a couple of other
• 28:34
  Speaker 4: rugby matters.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: This is Rugby Direct, a podcast for real rugby fans.
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: Every try try ten sixty second, every tackle tackles, get
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: up again, I take him.
• 28:51
  Speaker 5: Before our times.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: It's Rugby Direct.
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: You're back with Rugby Direct powered by Access Solutions, elevating
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: you and your business to a higher level. Let's talk
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: to Black Ferns and Ireland. Forty neil. I was quite
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: concerned about this game heading into it final game of
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: the pool stages. You lose this a very tricky quarter
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: final in prospect, not saying South Africa won't be next week,
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: but holy hecker, the Black Funds delivered forty nil against
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: the team they lost to last year, and two of
• 29:23
  Speaker 4: the players again that stood up weren't there last year.
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: Braxton signs and McGee scores a hat trick. Georgia Miller
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: again redefining what it means to be an open side
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: flanker in men's or women's rugby. I thought it was
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: a top shelf performance from the Black Ferns as they
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: head into the pointy end of this tournament.
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: It was they'll take a lot of confidence from that performance.
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: Island I think have a winning recent record against the
• 29:51
  Speaker 5: Black Ferns, which you speaks to the level of preparation
• 29:56
  Speaker 5: the Black Friends would have done going into that game,
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: the homework where they would have been at mentally, and
• 30:00
  Speaker 5: I think it showed Sylvia Brunt was superb again just
• 30:04
  Speaker 5: to direct powerful ball carrying really gets the Black Funds
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: on the front. And I think we saw from the
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: forward pack the level of commitments and physicality they're going
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: to need later in this tournament as well.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: So a surprising result, wasn't it. Forty? And then the
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: nill is the impressive part.
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: And there was the impressive part as well, and they
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: didn't have it easy in the first spell. They had
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: to really work. I mean, Island had some great flashes
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: in the opening ten minutes also, and we're right in
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: the contest is I don't think it was as like
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: Ireland playing badly. It was the Black Ferns just delivering
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: a really top shelf performance. You look at some of
• 30:41
  Speaker 4: the stats and I was looking through them earlier territory
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: position forty nine to fifty one, that's, you know, bang
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: on even territory Island fifty five Black Ferns forty four
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: entries into the twenty two. Island had seven didn't score
• 30:56
  Speaker 4: obviously a single point. The Black Fans had twelve, so
• 30:59
  Speaker 4: it wasn't like they ran the ship for the entire game.
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: They'll put under pressure.
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: By Island and there was a lot to like from
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: that performance as they head into playing South Africa next
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: week in the quarters.
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: That's right, What about I guess the context of that tournaments.
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: Is anyone going to be able to stop England because
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: they put a fair score on Australia. Is at any
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: sort of gauge of where they're at?
• 31:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 31:22
  Speaker 4: I think the Black fans performance this morning solidified that.
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: I believe they can if they get England on the
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: right day, which would not be a good day for
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: England because I still think they're the heavy and hot
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: favorites for the tournament. But I can see a path
• 31:36
  Speaker 4: where the Black Fans might be able to win the tournament.
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: And I didn't see that earlier on the year, but
• 31:44
  Speaker 4: I can potentially see a path now to the Black
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: Fans winning the tournament. Not saying they're going to, but
• 31:48
  Speaker 4: I just think that Yep, England put on a score
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: over the course of the weekend and you know, looking
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: and really comfortable touch at home, but on a day
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: the Black Fans might be able to tip them up.
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah. I think so too, when you've got athletes and
• 32:04
  Speaker 5: a brand of rugby that England perhaps aren't used to either.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: I think the Black friends are.
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: They're clearly getting better a tournament team and you get
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: to a one off knockout match as we saw Eden Park.
• 32:16
  Speaker 5: You know, anything, anything as possible, so you give you know,
• 32:21
  Speaker 5: Brextons on some McGhee, Alicia, letting these sort of athletes
• 32:27
  Speaker 5: a chance.
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they could knock them over on their day. What
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: do you make of the scheduling for the World Cup?
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: I think New Zealand's been dudded a little bit. Second
• 32:39
  Speaker 4: or third biggest rugby women's rugby market, not in terms
• 32:41
  Speaker 4: of population numbers, but in terms of where the game
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: sits in terms of interest levels. And I get why,
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: but it's been largely a UK friendly time zone. Now,
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: not asking for you because you know you think of
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: the All Blacks and the times that they play out North,
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: but you know that Island game this morning. How many
• 33:02
  Speaker 4: young school girls all boys for that matter, at one
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: forty five am on a Monday morning and getting up
• 33:07
  Speaker 4: and watching that. Yeah, there are replays, but you connect
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: to the game most when you see it live. And
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: if that was a Sunday morning at eight am New
• 33:15
  Speaker 4: Zealand Times seven, a New Zealand time, you would have
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: had a bigger audience. You would have helped grow the game,
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: which is what would Rugby adamant about. I think they've
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: kind of been sold up the reverend a little bit here.
• 33:26
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't think there's been any consideration whatsoever of that.
• 33:29
  Speaker 5: And the key point there is it doesn't make any
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: difference for islands. Yeah, you know with the tuning in
• 33:36
  Speaker 5: at seven at night or two in the afternoon. Yeah,
• 33:40
  Speaker 5: it might be a better spectacle. But you'd like to
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: think you take those things into consideration when you're doing
• 33:47
  Speaker 5: the scheduling, and clearly they haven't.
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: No, they haven't.
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: Topic number two smart Mouthguards. They came to the four
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: on Saturday night was at three Triggers of the smart Mouthguards.
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: We had Cody Taylor go off, will its a TD
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: and Jordie Barrett went off then came back on whereabouts
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: you sit on that? We obviously you know last week
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: the podcast touched on the very sad death of Shane Christy.
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: But for me, the smart smart Mouthguards almost seem like
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: for show. Are they actually if it's not been caught
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: by an independent doctor on the sidelines, are they actually helping?
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: I think there's clearly still teething issues. And look, it's
• 34:32
  Speaker 5: hard because you can't sit back and criticize Rugby for
• 34:36
  Speaker 5: not doing enough, and then criticize them for doing something
• 34:39
  Speaker 5: to try and prevent head knocks or protect players.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: But put yourself in a player's shoes.
• 34:45
  Speaker 5: If you're Jordi Barrett and Wallace a teas, you get
• 34:47
  Speaker 5: dragged for ten minutes, you miss ten minutes of massive contest,
• 34:54
  Speaker 5: and then you get back in so it's very stop, start,
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: you get cold. You'd be incredibly frustrated, right, So I
• 35:01
  Speaker 5: think there's work to do around the threshold, around the accuracy,
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: because not just players but coach would be incredibly frustrated
• 35:10
  Speaker 5: to lose influential figures for a certain period of time.
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: It's quite chaotic, isn't it, Players coming on, coming off.
• 35:17
  Speaker 5: So I think there's real work to be done. I
• 35:21
  Speaker 5: don't know whether long term that's the way forward, because
• 35:27
  Speaker 5: in a contest like that, when you've got such big
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: humans coming together, there's always going to be massive collisions.
• 35:32
  Speaker 5: And that doesn't necessarily mean that there's been a head clash.
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, to me, it seems like pseudo science isn't the
• 35:41
  Speaker 4: word necessarily, but it feels like something that's been implemented
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: perhaps before it's time to make people feel better and
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: to feel people feel like there's been progress made on
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: this matter. Head injuries is obviously something you've got to
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: take very very seriously, but there have been so many,
• 35:57
  Speaker 4: as you said, and excuse the punt teething issues that
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure that they are necessarily the answer, especially
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: at the top level, and especially when you've got professional
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: players using them compared to levels below that this is
• 36:11
  Speaker 4: the best of the best playing it, I just don't
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: know whether it's entirely suited to that. Watch the space
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: topic number three ran for the Shield, change his hands.
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: Anything you want to congratulate me on or adds to that.
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: Just demolishing Southland.
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: Pass me by. Actually you wouldn't believe it? Yeah, really,
• 36:32
  Speaker 5: yeah it didn't, didn't hear.
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: I've got I've got a full replay home you can
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: can cover around this afternoon or grab some popcorn and
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: relive it.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: I'm quite busy actually right.
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: Just dominant formance from Canterbury.
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: You know, Southland had has had a couple of great
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: shield eras in the last fifteen or so years.
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: That will not be one of them.
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: But it's great to see the Shield on the move
• 36:54
  Speaker 4: and Tasman's got a challenge this weekend in christ Church.
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: They lost to Auckland obviously yesterday they have they have
• 37:01
  Speaker 4: been a bit hot and cold so far the season, tasm.
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: But again they will get up for the Shield Challenge
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: this weekend and it should be absolute doozy and crush Church.
• 37:10
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it is good to see the Shield on the move,
• 37:12
  Speaker 5: not necessarily to crush Church, but special massive special scenes
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: in the cargo, you know, bagpipes playing crowd at the airports.
• 37:23
  Speaker 5: So it is great to see the love affair with
• 37:25
  Speaker 5: with the logger Woods. I don't know are their parades
• 37:29
  Speaker 5: and crush Church it should be maybe you take it
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: for granted or what's happening.
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: But it's just hard when you win so much you
• 37:35
  Speaker 4: think of Super Rugby title obviously this year the Tactics
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: winning the a Z Premiership. You know, Chrussia City Council
• 37:42
  Speaker 4: has only got a finite amount of money to pay
• 37:45
  Speaker 4: for parades and it might have been blown out already.
• 37:47
  Speaker 5: So yeah, yeah, yeah, Well Paul Cully tells me, I
• 37:51
  Speaker 5: think that otago of a challenge, so I'll just I'll
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: be adopting the otago. What's the nickname the Razorbacks.
• 38:03
  Speaker 3: Yes, I Canterbury defend it.
• 38:04
  Speaker 4: Then they defended against Otago the following weekend. Dougle Okay
• 38:10
  Speaker 4: topic number four Australia Argentina. This was a great game Argentina.
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: I mean almost the proverbial game of two harbs. Argentina
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: very very good in the first bell couldn't quite recapture that.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: After halftime Australia tightened up a little bit. I felt
• 38:26
  Speaker 4: played a little bit more direct after the break, paid
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: dividends and grandstand finish. It was a great game of
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: rugby and you know, not much between it. Argentina could
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: have first sneaked the win, maybe even should have sneaked
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: the win on the afternoon man.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what a game.
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: And I guess we're a critical of the blackfurre and
• 38:48
  Speaker 5: scheduling before, but this match speaks to afternoon forty does that?
• 38:53
  Speaker 5: And we talked about that game at Alice Park as well.
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: Played in sunshine. This was in Townsville, sunbeaming down and
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: the Pumas are a great team to watch. They scored
• 39:04
  Speaker 5: two brilliant tries offloading can phase pace that they have
• 39:12
  Speaker 5: some exceptional talents in that back line in particular, they
• 39:18
  Speaker 5: were all over the Wallabies in that first st half
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: and then didn't really fire a shot on the second,
• 39:22
  Speaker 5: gave away a string of penalties and you've just got
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: to stand and applaud the decision at the end from
• 39:28
  Speaker 5: Harry Wilson to put his balls on the line and
• 39:31
  Speaker 5: go for the corner, go for the win when they
• 39:33
  Speaker 5: could have easily just banked the draw, and to pull
• 39:35
  Speaker 5: that out of the bag. I think that really does
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: speak to the transformation of the Wallabies where they're at
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: with their self confidence, their belief to say no, we
• 39:46
  Speaker 5: don't want to draw, we want the win. And it's
• 39:50
  Speaker 5: great for the Rape Championship as well.
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: It is it is on a knife edge and Australia
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: a couple of weeks out from the Blitter's Low Cup
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: obviously still got a argenty to plague in this weekend,
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: but they'll get to even Park in a couple of weeks.
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: Being confident that you know they win. That gives them
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: a chance as they head to Perth of winning the
• 40:07
  Speaker 4: Blitter's like Up for the first and twenty plus years.
• 40:09
  Speaker 5: That's right, and Joseph Sui Lee's best test performance. He
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: was great at Twickenham, I think on de Boos when
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: he started there, but he scored two tries, his combination
• 40:19
  Speaker 5: with Lenny Ektau really coming along Max Jorgensen.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: What of talents?
• 40:25
  Speaker 5: The Wallabies have lost a lot of players and they
• 40:28
  Speaker 5: don't have great depth, No, Tom writs Tom Liner started
• 40:32
  Speaker 5: that game.
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: They made the change of James O'Connor.
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: But yeah, Joe Smith is doing a fantastic job and
• 40:40
  Speaker 5: there was a lot of hype, wasn't there around Eden Park?
• 40:42
  Speaker 5: And the record wouldn't it be something if the Wallabies
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: were the ones in there?
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: Streak?
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely could well happen in a couple of weeks time.
• 40:51
  Speaker 5: Just before we go, You're bug bear. The TMO barely
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: saw them on Saturday Night, which was added to the
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: spectacle all the occasion of the match. So I just
• 41:05
  Speaker 5: want to give a shout out there. What about Carl Dixon.
• 41:09
  Speaker 5: There's been a fair bit of consternation from South African
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: quarters around his performance.
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: What was your feeling.
• 41:16
  Speaker 4: I've been critical of Carl Dixon previously on the podcast.
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: I don't think he's previously had great feels and that's
• 41:23
  Speaker 4: such an intangible thing, but great fields for Test matches
• 41:26
  Speaker 4: technical refrae. Yeah, I thought Saturday Night was probably his
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: best Test match from what I saw yet he's always
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: going to miss a couple of things. Any referee will
• 41:34
  Speaker 4: miss a couple of things. But I thought that was
• 41:37
  Speaker 4: his best test match just from keeping the game flowing,
• 41:42
  Speaker 4: was confident in his own decisions. In the commentary for
• 41:46
  Speaker 4: News Talk ZB and gold Sport, I had Bret cronin
• 41:49
  Speaker 4: in my ear the entire time and he was offering
• 41:52
  Speaker 4: some advice to Dixon around placement on the field of
• 41:56
  Speaker 4: penalties and scrums and various things, and he was sweeping through.
• 42:00
  Speaker 4: But he didn't interject himself overly into the game. And
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: I think that's what we wanted. And we're not sitting well,
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: maybe South African fans are, but we're not sitting here
• 42:08
  Speaker 4: on a talking about the referee and his influence on
• 42:12
  Speaker 4: a performance. I thought that was in a big test
• 42:15
  Speaker 4: match with a lot of scrutiny on it, that was
• 42:17
  Speaker 4: about as good as you could hope for from a
• 42:19
  Speaker 4: from a referee.
• 42:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah. I think the biggest compliment you can give a
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: referee is that you don't overly notice them, right. They
• 42:27
  Speaker 5: let the players take control of a contest. That's what
• 42:31
  Speaker 5: you want and the same for it from a TMO.
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: You don't want constant stoppages and reviews and unnecessary obtrusive officiating.
• 42:42
  Speaker 5: So yeah, I thought they got the balance right.
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: They did.
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: Nika Amishakelli from Georgia is the referee this weekend. Who's
• 42:50
  Speaker 4: not one of my favorites either. So Carl Dixon heard
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: Rugby Direct last week maybe and rose to the occasion.
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: Nieka, it's on you this weekend Saturday night.
• 43:01
  Speaker 5: Great food in Georgia, but referees, I think it's been
• 43:06
  Speaker 5: elevated way too a lotter than he was.
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: We'll see. We'll judge that next week. Rugby directs done
• 43:13
  Speaker 4: and dusted. We might pop back in like we did
• 43:15
  Speaker 4: last week for a we midweek chicken, but later on
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: in the week once your black side is out to say,
• 43:21
  Speaker 4: you can catch up with Russy Arrasthmas is the spring
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: Box team on the New Zealand Herald website and across
• 43:26
  Speaker 4: News Talk ZB and Gold Sport. Once that is named
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: at seven pm on Monday. Fascinating to see what he
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: goes with six two seven one eight zero.
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: What are you going? He goes with five to.
• 43:35
  Speaker 5: Three, seven to one. The Springboks have never lost with
• 43:38
  Speaker 5: a seven to one bench. There we go against the
• 43:41
  Speaker 5: All Blacks I'm going six too. Okay, if anyone's got
• 43:43
  Speaker 5: any Brie or Bulltong recommendations and Wellington, it's only fitting,
• 43:49
  Speaker 5: let us know.
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: It is it is fitting. Yep, we'll absolutely do that.
• 43:53
  Speaker 5: Jamiel Wall was munching on bulltong right throughout that manute.
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: You can't go wrong with Billtong. Delicious, delicious, wee morsels
• 44:02
  Speaker 4: of food.
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah right, that'll do us.
• 44:04
  Speaker 4: Rugby Direct Power by Excess Solutions elevating you and your
• 44:07
  Speaker 4: business to a hig Lee. Well thanks to last In
• 44:09
  Speaker 4: Viaz English as well for his production work. We'll see you.
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: Later in the week.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: For more from News Talks ed B listen live on
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio