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Transcript

Rugby Direct - Episode 175 · Rugby Direct

0:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
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Speaker 1: Straight down the Middle.
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Speaker 2: Of Drup Dickney Score.
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Speaker 3: Please try these.
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Speaker 1: Get inside the game from every angle. It's Rugby Direct
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Speaker 1: with Elliott Smith and Leam Napier powered by News Talks EDB.
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Speaker 2: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Fourklift Solutions, lifting you
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Speaker 2: and your business to a higher level. Elliott Smith with
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Speaker 2: me as always, but some distance away we go to
0:47
Speaker 2: Buenos aide Is where Lea Napier is for the New Zealand.
0:50
Speaker 2: Here all joining us on Rugby Direct. Liam, greetings and
0:55
Speaker 2: welcome from Argentina.
0:56
Speaker 3: Good to catch up, oh, Elliott's yes, great to catch
1:00
Speaker 3: up in the Argentinian capital and plenty to get stuck onto.
1:05
Speaker 3: Isn't there in the Rugby Championship ups sets drama?
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Speaker 2: It's all happening, It certainly is all happening. Well, you
1:11
Speaker 2: had a pretty good seat yesterday for the All Blacks
1:14
Speaker 2: when over Argentina. Probably a pretty good place to start.
1:18
Speaker 2: What were your baseline thoughts on that All Blacks performances?
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Speaker 2: They comfortably bet Argentina Barra sort of twenty minutes squeeze
1:27
Speaker 2: in the second spell.
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Speaker 3: Well, first of all, it was an amazing atmosphere in
1:33
Speaker 3: caught Over, the first time the All Blacks had been
1:35
Speaker 3: there in thirty years, fifty five thousand fans and they
1:38
Speaker 3: were certainly rocking pre cookoff and the All Blacks did
1:42
Speaker 3: a great job of silence and them didn't They initially
1:46
Speaker 3: three first half tries.
1:47
Speaker 4: And not completely dominant.
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Speaker 3: There were some clunky moments, but comfortable, very comfortable at
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Speaker 3: halftime thirty one ten and you thought, shut the gate,
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Speaker 3: they're going to make an early Rugby Championship statements and
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Speaker 3: kick on from here. And then it was anything but
2:06
Speaker 3: the second half fades returns, the discipline issues returned to
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Speaker 3: yellow cards. Scott Robinson went to his bench early and
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Speaker 3: there was some very nervous moments for the All Blacks
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Speaker 3: with their twenty one point lead whittled down to seven
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Speaker 3: points before too late. Summersony Takeyaho tries and the Ford
2:25
Speaker 3: Pack really getting the All Blacks out of jail. Somewhats
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Speaker 3: going back to the mall and pushing clear for as
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Speaker 3: you say, pretty comfortable in the end, but the All
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Speaker 3: Blacks I think very mixed. The motions six tries bonus
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Speaker 3: point one, but some real frustrations in their second half performance.
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Speaker 4: What was your read on it?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we were talking about it at halftime in
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Speaker 2: our commentary here with former All Blacks half back An
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Speaker 2: Storing about the needs to kick on and really put
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Speaker 2: a number on Argentina and both in performance and I
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Speaker 2: suppose on the scoreboard as well. It would be a
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Speaker 2: statement to win that the All Blacks have been searching
3:01
Speaker 2: for and they just couldn't get going in the second
3:04
Speaker 2: spell and that's the frustrating and lingering thing happened in
3:08
Speaker 2: Allington where they weren't comfortably but couldn't quite kick on
3:11
Speaker 2: with the second half performance they desired, And really I
3:14
Speaker 2: thought that the halftime probably came at the worst possible
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Speaker 2: time for the All Blacks. They obviously scored two or
3:19
Speaker 2: three minutes after the siren in the first spell to
3:22
Speaker 2: make it thirty one ten, but it felt like they
3:24
Speaker 2: had a real ascendancy as they had into the break.
3:26
Speaker 2: I think they had a ninety four percent possession over
3:29
Speaker 2: the last ten minutes of the first spell, and then
3:31
Speaker 2: a fifteen minute break kind of came at the worst
3:33
Speaker 2: time in terms of that momentum, and they haven't found
3:36
Speaker 2: a way to reset the switch and get that going
3:39
Speaker 2: in the second spell. And I thought what Argentina did
3:41
Speaker 2: really well straight after halftime was immediately apply pressure. The
3:45
Speaker 2: penalty count was nine to four against Argentina at halftime,
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Speaker 2: it ended up being twelve all, and they just managed
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Speaker 2: to apply some pressure to get some early wins in
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Speaker 2: the second spell. And if anything, I don't know whether
3:58
Speaker 2: it was conditions related or player related, maybe felt like
4:02
Speaker 2: the All Blacks went to their bench a ted early
4:05
Speaker 2: in some respects. Corthius Ratsma I thought was playing very
4:08
Speaker 2: very well. Finlay Christie didn't have the greatest of nights.
4:12
Speaker 2: The reserve props didn't really make an impact. The starting
4:16
Speaker 2: ones we're having, you know, some some good moments and
4:18
Speaker 2: then so in you know, Cody Taylor for as take Yaho.
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Speaker 2: You can probably agree with that, but kind of felt
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Speaker 2: maybe they went to the bench a little bit early
4:26
Speaker 2: just to try and reset things in the second spell
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Speaker 2: when they felt they're under a little bit of pressure.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree with that.
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Speaker 3: I think there wasn't that impact from the bench other
4:35
Speaker 3: than Takyoho. And I thought Patrick two Plotu was good.
4:38
Speaker 3: He made that one try saving tackle. Sounds like he
4:42
Speaker 3: won't be available this week. Took quite a heavy knock
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Speaker 3: to the heads and went to hospital with concussions as
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Speaker 3: there's been cleared of anything major, but probably won't be available,
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Speaker 3: so we can touch on what that means from a
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Speaker 3: selection point of view. But yeah, the bench as a whole,
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Speaker 3: it's a bit of an ongoing thing for the All Blacks,
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Speaker 3: isn't it. There were a couple of times towards the
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Speaker 3: back end of last year they got the desired impact,
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Speaker 3: but I think with guys like Wallace the Tea t
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Speaker 3: and Mighty Williams and Tyrol Lomax and Cam Roygard, Caleb Clark,
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Speaker 3: these guys absence that is really affecting that impact from
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Speaker 3: the bench. And I agree that they probably went to
5:22
Speaker 3: it early. Probably thoughts that they or they did have
5:27
Speaker 3: a commanding lead and that's why they went to the
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Speaker 3: bench early and didn't get the desired results there.
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Speaker 4: I guess some other issues, Eliot.
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Speaker 3: I think the back line is not functioning as well
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Speaker 3: as the All Blacks would like. There were some real
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Speaker 3: clunky moments there that I think they only made two
5:44
Speaker 3: line breaks the whole game. They did beats a number
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Speaker 3: of defenders, but if you look at the tries that
5:49
Speaker 3: they scored. Three of them were from wolves, one of
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Speaker 3: them was from a piece of will Jordan brilliance, a hop,
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Speaker 3: a step, a break, and he puts Cortez lastmer in.
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Speaker 3: So they only really created you could argue two trials
6:01
Speaker 3: or certainly the back line, and I think there's some
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Speaker 3: real concerns there at the moment. Billy Proctor's finding it
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Speaker 3: hard to step up to test level. I mean, a
6:10
Speaker 3: big advocate for his He's played exceedingly well for the Hurricanes,
6:13
Speaker 3: but is struggling to carry that impact through Rika Iwani's
6:18
Speaker 3: switched to the wing not going well.
6:21
Speaker 4: They're looking to bring him.
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Speaker 3: Off his wing and get him evolved, but his hands
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Speaker 3: and letting them down on occasions. He was smacked big
6:27
Speaker 3: time by Pablo Martera and then dropped another ball, And yeah,
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Speaker 3: I just I don't know how to put my finger
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Speaker 3: on exactly. Maybe it's the attacking shape, maybe it's basic skills,
6:39
Speaker 3: but the back line is a btificant concern at the moment,
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Speaker 3: especially when the four pack is really largely delivering that
6:47
Speaker 3: front foot platform.
6:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, it certainly is, and I'm with you, I don't
6:51
Speaker 2: know whether it's the attacking shape that is not allowing
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Speaker 2: someone like a Billy Propt to have the time and
6:56
Speaker 2: space that he gets at Super rugby level, or whether
7:00
Speaker 2: it is this that step up to Test level that
7:02
Speaker 2: is making things more difficult. The defense lines are quicker
7:05
Speaker 2: at Test level, the pressure is a lot more, but
7:09
Speaker 2: he would be someone that has played so well at
7:11
Speaker 2: Super rugby level that is just not being afforded the
7:13
Speaker 2: time in space in this current All Black setup to
7:17
Speaker 2: be able to do what he needs to with ball
7:20
Speaker 2: in hand and what we've seen at Super rugby level.
7:23
Speaker 2: He's not alone because I don't think Jordy Barrett probably
7:25
Speaker 2: had his best Test match yesterday either. But it felt
7:28
Speaker 2: like they were being crowded in the midfield and whether
7:30
Speaker 2: that's the way that the All Blacks are attacking obviously
7:34
Speaker 2: use the props at the moment to set up things
7:37
Speaker 2: a little bit, and whether that allows the defensive line
7:40
Speaker 2: to be a little bit more set when it comes
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Speaker 2: to midfield players. I don't know necessarily, but the back
7:45
Speaker 2: line looks really really clunky and to an extent that
7:48
Speaker 2: is just down to basic skilled execution. Catch pass is
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Speaker 2: becoming a real battle for the All Blacks at the moment.
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Speaker 2: Some drop ball as you mentioned there that you'd expect
8:00
Speaker 2: these players to be able to do that we've seen
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Speaker 2: in Super rugby be able to do, yet their hands
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Speaker 2: and skill set is evading them. At Test level at
8:07
Speaker 2: the moment.
8:09
Speaker 3: It is drop bulls, forward passes and there were a
8:13
Speaker 3: couple of nice skip balls out to severa Reese's wing.
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Speaker 3: He scored two tries to taken tries there, but the
8:20
Speaker 3: All Blacks did lead points out there and that will
8:23
Speaker 3: be a frustration for them as well. So big, big
8:28
Speaker 3: work on in that department. What about the discipline that
8:31
Speaker 3: we have touched on, as you mentioned the penalty count
8:34
Speaker 3: in the second half, also two yellow cards Billy Proctor
8:37
Speaker 3: for a professional foul and Anton Lenna Brown came on
8:41
Speaker 3: probably one of his worst Test performances, really gave away
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Speaker 3: an immediate penalty and then was yellow carded for a
8:47
Speaker 3: unfortunate rugby collision where he rushed out of the line
8:50
Speaker 3: and had the head clash, so.
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Speaker 4: He was binned as well.
8:55
Speaker 3: That was a real problem for the All Blacks during
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Speaker 3: the Rugby Championship campaign last year. Yellow cards can prove
9:00
Speaker 3: incredibly costly. The All Blacks cashed in on the Puma's
9:03
Speaker 3: prop tight loose head props. Sorry get being yellowcuted in
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Speaker 3: the first half. So do you see those discipline issues
9:10
Speaker 3: being a quick, fixed, easy solution. That is a real
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Speaker 3: bugbear of Scott Robinson. So I'm sure it'd be pretty
9:14
Speaker 3: harsh on that this week.
9:15
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, so it should be at halftime. As I mentioned,
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Speaker 2: nine four was the penalty count. Argentina conceded nine, the
9:21
Speaker 2: All Blacks just four. By a full time it was
9:23
Speaker 2: twelve apiece. And what Argentina did really really well, I
9:26
Speaker 2: thought in the opening twenty minutes of that second spell
9:29
Speaker 2: has put the All Blacks under pressure, forced them into
9:32
Speaker 2: making decisions that would likely result in penalties, and it
9:37
Speaker 2: increased the pressure. And we saw Julia Montoga at one
9:40
Speaker 2: point ask the referee how many penalties are you going
9:43
Speaker 2: to allow this team to concede? Does a wipe when
9:45
Speaker 2: we can we score a try because the All Blacks
9:47
Speaker 2: just seemingly we're giving up penalties for fun really, which
9:51
Speaker 2: wasn't fun, but it was essentially what was happening on
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Speaker 2: the scoreboard. Now, whether that was down to Pierre Brossett
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Speaker 2: changing his interpretations at halftime, I actually thought he had
9:58
Speaker 2: a pretty good refe game. The referee. The All Blacks
10:02
Speaker 2: with it was fatigue, began to make some poor decisions
10:05
Speaker 2: as the game went on in that penalty count level
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Speaker 2: against them, what eight and the second spell versus full
10:11
Speaker 2: for Argentina. And you're right around the yellow cards and
10:14
Speaker 2: Anton Lenett Brown in particular has a habit of conceiving
10:18
Speaker 2: yellow cards when he's come off the bench and test matches.
10:21
Speaker 2: It seems to be regularly that he is showing a
10:25
Speaker 2: yellow card. I can't put my finger on exactly what
10:26
Speaker 2: it is. He's a smart rugby player, but I mean
10:29
Speaker 2: yesterday that could have easily have been broad obstruction, I thought,
10:33
Speaker 2: But because it was a collision, they went with the
10:37
Speaker 2: defensive player making the misread and he had to go
10:40
Speaker 2: for ten minutes. I thought he was probably a little
10:42
Speaker 2: hard done by there because it felt more obstruction than
10:45
Speaker 2: anything given both players looking in opposite directions. But it
10:48
Speaker 2: is becoming a worrying habit. And on top of that,
10:52
Speaker 2: I don't think Anton Lenett Brown strikes It is the
10:54
Speaker 2: bench player that the All Blacks are looking for. When
10:57
Speaker 2: they talk about impact, they talk about wanting to own
11:00
Speaker 2: the back end of games. Anton Lett Brown, to me,
11:03
Speaker 2: is either a starter or he doesn't play at all.
11:05
Speaker 2: He is not a bench player in this current All
11:08
Speaker 2: Black side. If you're looking for impact, you see you
11:10
Speaker 2: can cover twelve and thirteen and to a lesser extent
11:13
Speaker 2: wing if you're really at a push. But to me,
11:15
Speaker 2: it just doesn't offer that kind of bench impact that
11:17
Speaker 2: you're after.
11:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a fair point because he is
11:22
Speaker 3: there because of the versatility, isn't he There's not many
11:25
Speaker 3: players that can play twelve and thirteen. It does tend
11:28
Speaker 3: to be quite a specialist role though, those midfield duties.
11:32
Speaker 3: But when you've got Arikawani on the wing who could
11:34
Speaker 3: push into center, you do have the flexibility within that
11:39
Speaker 3: starting team. So there's an argument for a quinta pier
11:44
Speaker 3: a tav Tavanahua to get a chance if you are
11:46
Speaker 3: really looking for that impact. So interesting to see whether
11:50
Speaker 3: the All Black's pondered that this week. Maybe ntil Lena Brown.
11:53
Speaker 3: There's a potential that he does face a judiciary for
11:56
Speaker 3: something like that as well, so we'll wait and see
11:58
Speaker 3: on that front. I guess we've touched on the back
12:01
Speaker 3: line clunkiness and discipline issues, but the four pack is
12:08
Speaker 3: the All Black strength at the moment. Isn't it the
12:09
Speaker 3: scrum despite missing their both starting props, that the propping
12:15
Speaker 3: depth in the All Blacks at the moment is phenomenal really,
12:18
Speaker 3: that they can be missing tyro A Lomax and Ti
12:20
Speaker 3: Mighty Williams and still completely dominate the Puma's pack at
12:25
Speaker 3: scrum time. The line out with Brent Evans coming in
12:29
Speaker 3: is working exceptionally well. Fabian Holland as a massive presence
12:33
Speaker 3: there and the all three tries coming from that. The
12:37
Speaker 3: All Blacks in the first half, even when their attack
12:39
Speaker 3: wasn't functioning superbly, they were kicking to the corner and
12:43
Speaker 3: setting everything off those line out drives, Boden Barrett, Jordie
12:46
Speaker 3: Barrett pinning it to the corner and using the line
12:49
Speaker 3: out as a weapon. So the forward pack Elliott is
12:54
Speaker 3: setting the bar for this All Black team at the moment,
12:55
Speaker 3: isn't it.
12:56
Speaker 2: It certainly is, yeah, and it's a very high bar.
12:58
Speaker 2: It's been impressive what they're able to do. And you
13:01
Speaker 2: know you can buy and large at the moment. You
13:04
Speaker 2: know guarantee they're going to win pretty to all their
13:06
Speaker 2: lineout ball. They didn't didn't lose any in that test yesterday.
13:11
Speaker 2: Scrum though, were very very slide of and they conceded
13:13
Speaker 2: one scrum penalty for hinging late on in the contest,
13:18
Speaker 2: but by and large they had the Puma's number there.
13:21
Speaker 2: So that's a really promising sign. And it's interesting there's
13:24
Speaker 2: been a lot of chatterback here in the last twenty
13:27
Speaker 2: four hours about whether the All Blacks need to be
13:29
Speaker 2: a little bit more pragmatic and go, actually, maybe we're
13:32
Speaker 2: not the team that we aspire to be when it
13:34
Speaker 2: comes to playing that fast style of rugby, that attacking
13:37
Speaker 2: style of rugby that New Zealanders love to see. And
13:40
Speaker 2: maybe the strength at the moment with this group of
13:43
Speaker 2: players and this coaching stuff actually lies up front, and
13:46
Speaker 2: whether they should play more to those strengths than using
13:49
Speaker 2: the back line. What do you make of that?
13:53
Speaker 4: I don't know if I subscribe to that totally. I
13:55
Speaker 4: can see the argument for it.
13:57
Speaker 3: Certainly, that's where the All Black strength is, that's where
14:01
Speaker 3: their dominance is coming. But I think Usiana rugby DNA
14:05
Speaker 3: is using the ball, is playing fast, is using skills,
14:08
Speaker 3: and I don't see any reason why they can't get
14:11
Speaker 3: back to that or at least have.
14:14
Speaker 4: A complimentary balance. You look at some.
14:16
Speaker 3: Of the attacking weapons in that back line. Will Jordan's
14:19
Speaker 3: got to be one of the most potent threats in
14:22
Speaker 3: world rugby, and it can't just be him doing it
14:27
Speaker 3: on his own. But there are some new combinations across
14:30
Speaker 3: that back line, aren't they, And I think that's what
14:32
Speaker 3: we're seeing. Jordi Barrett and Billy Procter have played a
14:35
Speaker 3: lot together for the Hurricanes, but that was I think
14:37
Speaker 3: their third test together in the test scene. Riquawuan he's
14:42
Speaker 3: had maybe three four tests on the wing and he
14:45
Speaker 3: hadn't played on the wing for four years I think
14:48
Speaker 3: it was at any level prior to this season, so
14:51
Speaker 3: he's in an adjustment period.
14:52
Speaker 4: Whether he remains there.
14:54
Speaker 3: I think there's big question marks over the All blacks
14:57
Speaker 3: preferred wings, so new combinations and I think a sense
15:01
Speaker 3: of uncertainty about whether the players are in their best
15:05
Speaker 3: positions contributing to the back why not functioning as well?
15:09
Speaker 3: But I think the All Blacks should be aspiring to
15:13
Speaker 3: play attacking forty as well as using their full pack
15:18
Speaker 3: as a weapon just.
15:19
Speaker 2: On the defensive shift. It feels like the All Blacks,
15:23
Speaker 2: you know, they put on a couple of big shifts
15:24
Speaker 2: inside their twenty two but we saw France strike and
15:28
Speaker 2: create opportunities inside the twenty two, and the All Blacks
15:31
Speaker 2: feloff tackles on a couple of occasions. It was Albanos's
15:35
Speaker 2: try yesterday where he glided through the line of the
15:38
Speaker 2: defense was really, really poor. It feels like teams are
15:41
Speaker 2: finding ways to get through the at the moment that
15:44
Speaker 2: the All Blacks probably need to tighten up a little
15:47
Speaker 2: bit when they're on the defense.
15:51
Speaker 4: Absolutely. Yeah.
15:51
Speaker 3: I think they missed twenty five tackles, which is too
15:54
Speaker 3: high for an All Black team. And I don't know
15:56
Speaker 3: whether it's a system issue or a lack of concentration
15:59
Speaker 3: at times, but they are conceding some really soft tries
16:04
Speaker 3: and I think Finnley Christie dropped off a couple of tackles.
16:07
Speaker 3: He wasn't alone, but yeah, that'll certainly be highlighted in
16:13
Speaker 3: their review because it's no good just doing it for
16:16
Speaker 3: five or ten minutes at a time, and you need
16:19
Speaker 3: to be on and soft tries really hurt. You don't
16:22
Speaker 3: yet you don't mind, or you can't argue if teams
16:25
Speaker 3: pull off a brilliant set piece move or they grind
16:28
Speaker 3: away for twenty thirty phases and break you down and
16:30
Speaker 3: crash over. But for someone just to waltz through your
16:33
Speaker 3: defensive line like that, that'll really hurt the All Blacks.
16:36
Speaker 2: It certainly will anything else on the game specifically, before
16:39
Speaker 2: we look at maybe some changes for this week.
16:43
Speaker 4: Well, what about the Pumas.
16:45
Speaker 3: I don't think they played to the best of their ability,
16:47
Speaker 3: did they. I think they're a team I think that
16:51
Speaker 3: likes being rank outsiders. If you look at where and
16:54
Speaker 3: when they've beaten the All Blacks, it's when they've been
16:56
Speaker 3: written off. Three times in the last five years. They've
16:59
Speaker 3: beaten the All Blacks, but it's all been away from home.
17:02
Speaker 3: So when they're at home, maybe there's a bit of pressure,
17:05
Speaker 3: a bit more spotlight, and maybe they struggle with that
17:07
Speaker 3: expectation to a degree. They've claimed some big scalps in
17:12
Speaker 3: recent years, the spring Box, the Wallabies, France, the British
17:15
Speaker 3: and Iris lines.
17:16
Speaker 4: But I didn't think that was the best performance.
17:18
Speaker 3: This scrum struggled and some of their kicking was inaccurate.
17:22
Speaker 3: They made a lot of errors as well, so I
17:25
Speaker 3: wouldn't be surprised to see a few selection changes from
17:27
Speaker 3: them this week.
17:28
Speaker 4: What did you make of the Pomas?
17:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was disappointed by them in all honesty. Look,
17:32
Speaker 2: I think the loose Ford trio has always showed up.
17:36
Speaker 2: Polo Matteta, Marcos Kremer and Oviedle I thought were excellent.
17:41
Speaker 2: Is always very very rarely do they have a bad game.
17:45
Speaker 2: You know, there's a great myth that goes around around
17:47
Speaker 2: Argentina's scrum and their props. But Makeo, Vivas and Delgado
17:51
Speaker 2: and their replacements. You know, they're just not what you
17:54
Speaker 2: need at test level in twenty twenty five and we
17:57
Speaker 2: saw them make errors. They still you know, one of
17:59
Speaker 2: them got yellow carded. They're not the kind of pillars
18:03
Speaker 2: you need at scrum time. So until I find some
18:06
Speaker 2: some bitter props, they're going to strugg at scrum time.
18:09
Speaker 2: And it's not They're not the strength that it once was.
18:12
Speaker 2: And then I thought in the back line, I thought
18:14
Speaker 2: the half back gone zoo. I see you was too telegraphed.
18:18
Speaker 2: On a number of occasions he would he would double
18:20
Speaker 2: pump the ball, allowed the All Blacks to get up
18:22
Speaker 2: in the line and disrupt the momentum of the pumas.
18:25
Speaker 2: So I thought he was a player that battled in
18:29
Speaker 2: the back line. I'm not sure why as well, for
18:31
Speaker 2: Lpe Countempoe. He didn't look at Matao karatas one of
18:34
Speaker 2: the best outside backs for the game, plays on the wing.
18:38
Speaker 2: He's out of bay On, He's been one of the
18:40
Speaker 2: Puma's best in recent times, so I was surprised they
18:43
Speaker 2: didn't look at him. And I still think they missed
18:45
Speaker 2: Amelionable fairly, who has been out with long term injuries
18:49
Speaker 2: for almost two years now. Really and I know he's
18:52
Speaker 2: cloring his way towards a comeback, but I feels like
18:54
Speaker 2: they just maybe missing a couple of players in that
18:57
Speaker 2: back line to really set them alight. What did you
18:59
Speaker 2: make of them?
19:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the occasion, there's a lot of talk,
19:05
Speaker 3: wasn't there about the fact that Pumas have never beaten
19:08
Speaker 3: the All Blacks in Argentina, and perhaps that's a bit
19:12
Speaker 3: of a weight of expectation for them. But yeah, I agree,
19:14
Speaker 3: I think concerpently got a few of his selections wrong.
19:17
Speaker 3: So I think we could see a few changes from
19:20
Speaker 3: them this week as they as they look to rebound
19:22
Speaker 3: in Buenos Aires.
19:23
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of changes the All Blacks, we touched on
19:26
Speaker 2: it a little bit earlier on what side will they
19:29
Speaker 2: name come Friday morning? You mentioned Patrick two if you're
19:33
Speaker 2: unlikely to play, Are there other changes that you can
19:38
Speaker 2: foresee in the mix this week?
19:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we'll see to Mighty Williams come straight
19:43
Speaker 3: back to start at Lucid prop and I think Wallace
19:46
Speaker 3: to Titi will come straight back into starts at probably
19:50
Speaker 3: at number eight, which would push Ardi to seven and
19:55
Speaker 3: probably two Po remain at six. I guess is a
19:57
Speaker 3: bit of a question mark with Patrick two below two
20:00
Speaker 3: ruled out, do you retain some of Penny Female on
20:04
Speaker 3: the bench as lock and cover or perhaps bringing a
20:07
Speaker 3: Josh Lord. I would also like to see Kyle Preston
20:10
Speaker 3: coming at half back. I just think he's got so
20:13
Speaker 3: much more upside to fin lay Christie off the bench.
20:16
Speaker 3: We talked about that impact before. Preston's a guy that
20:19
Speaker 3: can really bring their impact. He kicks off both feet,
20:22
Speaker 3: he's got pace, he's got great support lines, so I
20:26
Speaker 3: think he deserves a chance. And Simon Parker is another
20:30
Speaker 3: one I think they'll strongly consider. Can't see too many
20:33
Speaker 3: changes across the back line. I think Bilbacks feel at
20:37
Speaker 3: the moment that's their top team and I don't think
20:40
Speaker 3: they'll take any chances. I think they'll know that Pumas
20:43
Speaker 3: will want a response.
20:44
Speaker 4: What about you?
20:45
Speaker 3: You see a few chants for a few day booze.
20:48
Speaker 3: Does Leroy Carter get a look in?
20:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd like to see Leroy Carter get a look in.
20:52
Speaker 2: I mean it's hard, isn't it that he's not in
20:54
Speaker 2: the official squads as it's been turned obviously he's there,
20:58
Speaker 2: but they've got him morning nadaware. They've got Ruben Love
21:01
Speaker 2: in the mix with them as well. But I think
21:04
Speaker 2: Leroy Carter offers something different on the wing. I'd love
21:07
Speaker 2: to see him get a crack. I think he can
21:09
Speaker 2: be really dynamic at Test level, but hard to see.
21:12
Speaker 2: Maybe he gets a looking on the bench potentially for
21:16
Speaker 2: a late impact and he's a player that we talk
21:18
Speaker 2: about impact. He could certainly bring some impact late in
21:21
Speaker 2: the game with his out and out speed and also
21:23
Speaker 2: his position. His ability to play multiple positions. He played
21:26
Speaker 2: center recently in the NBC for Bay have plenty, He's
21:29
Speaker 2: played in the wing. He can play half back as
21:31
Speaker 2: well if needed. I think I think Kyle Preston has
21:34
Speaker 2: to play this week. Finlay Christie was defensively missing. I
21:40
Speaker 2: thought yesterday he's renowned as a defensive halfback, but I
21:43
Speaker 2: thought he was pretty poor, so I'd like to see
21:47
Speaker 2: that change that you mentioned there as well. But other
21:51
Speaker 2: than that, I think they'll keep the same players in
21:53
Speaker 2: positions around the team. Maybe Parker comes off the bench
21:57
Speaker 2: for a debut, Female can be there as lock cover.
22:00
Speaker 2: We saw during France they often picked two loose forwards,
22:04
Speaker 2: obviously with the ability to move two po via back
22:07
Speaker 2: into the second row if needed, So maybe that's an
22:10
Speaker 2: opportunity to bring in those loose forwards late in the game.
22:13
Speaker 2: But I think they need to need to look at
22:16
Speaker 2: some of these players with an ie to South Africa
22:19
Speaker 2: and ultimately obviously respecting Argentina as well. But they did
22:23
Speaker 2: to get some players on the park ahead of that
22:25
Speaker 2: test that Eden parking in a couple of weeks time
22:28
Speaker 2: they do.
22:29
Speaker 3: It's a balancing act, isn't it, to give players time
22:33
Speaker 3: to expose them to try new things. But when you
22:36
Speaker 3: think about that loose forward trio, I think they're going
22:39
Speaker 3: to want to get Wallace TC in there with Artie
22:42
Speaker 3: Severe and Tupu Vie because that combination hasn't played together
22:45
Speaker 3: and so looking your head to the spring box, you
22:48
Speaker 3: don't want to be rolling out a completely new combination
22:52
Speaker 3: at Eden Park to try and protect that Fortress record.
22:55
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think you can get the mix of
22:59
Speaker 3: introducing a Kyle Preston on debut as well as bringing
23:03
Speaker 3: back some of those real dynamic, powerful forwards and wallacity
23:08
Speaker 3: to end Tomighty Williams, which should strengthen the bench impact
23:12
Speaker 3: as well.
23:12
Speaker 2: Indeed, before we go any further, you spoke to All
23:15
Speaker 2: Black's assistant coach Jason Holland, so let's have a listen
23:19
Speaker 2: to that now.
23:19
Speaker 3: Jason Holland, thanks for making some time and buonos Aidre's
23:23
Speaker 3: you would have made a few trips over here back
23:26
Speaker 3: in the days during your time as Hurricanes head coach
23:29
Speaker 3: to play the Huguards. What are you? What do your
23:32
Speaker 3: sort of memories and I guess experiences of Argentina.
23:35
Speaker 5: Yeah, I've had a couple of trips over.
23:38
Speaker 6: Actually stayed in this place and it's been always been
23:41
Speaker 6: pretty enjoyable. A the people over here are called the emotional,
23:44
Speaker 6: but love their footy and then in its pretty good
23:49
Speaker 6: city here, so always enjoy it. Always a tough camera footy,
23:53
Speaker 6: the way these boys are and the way they're tough
23:56
Speaker 6: boys and smashing fifteen steaks a week and looking to
24:00
Speaker 6: hurt people spar it's it's calling, Yeah, one of the
24:04
Speaker 6: better places to go.
24:05
Speaker 3: I reckon, what's what's the feeling in camp? I guess
24:08
Speaker 3: after the performance at the weekends six tries, bonus point victory,
24:13
Speaker 3: but I guess a bit of a patchy performance.
24:16
Speaker 6: Yeah, there was a hell of a lot of good
24:17
Speaker 6: stuff in the first half, especially you know, I felt
24:21
Speaker 6: we if we got if we're more accurate and.
24:23
Speaker 5: Got a bit more ruthless, we probably could have been
24:25
Speaker 5: more ahead at half time.
24:26
Speaker 6: Do you know?
24:27
Speaker 5: We probably a few.
24:29
Speaker 6: Average decisions in attack, we could have scored a couple
24:31
Speaker 6: of tries and a little bit of skill set stuff
24:32
Speaker 6: with us down. But at other times we were really
24:35
Speaker 6: you know, we put the Argentinians under mess of pressure
24:39
Speaker 6: through our game. But yeah, a lot we're still and
24:43
Speaker 6: any footy team you want to be better, and we've
24:45
Speaker 6: still got lots of areas and we want to keep
24:46
Speaker 6: being better. But we just had a bonus point win
24:49
Speaker 6: in Argentina and and that you know, that's that's never
24:53
Speaker 6: easy to come by. So there's a lot of good
24:54
Speaker 6: going on. We just got to find all the little
24:56
Speaker 6: ways to be better.
24:58
Speaker 3: Before we touch on the nuts. And bolts of the game.
25:00
Speaker 4: I guess I'm.
25:01
Speaker 3: Patrick two blow who went to hospital of concussion. Looked
25:04
Speaker 3: like he had a pretty decent dent in his head.
25:08
Speaker 3: What what actually happened there?
25:10
Speaker 6: I'm just sure that little he had to put a
25:12
Speaker 6: glancing blow with one of the loosey's heads. I think
25:14
Speaker 6: he's I've just come out of a line out strategy meeting,
25:17
Speaker 6: so he's he's got concussion sentence, but he's thinking pretty
25:20
Speaker 6: clearly around the line out straight for the week.
25:23
Speaker 5: Yeah.
25:23
Speaker 6: Luck, he's taking a bang and this I think he
25:26
Speaker 6: need to get checked up and they would be unlikely
25:28
Speaker 6: to be ready for this weekend. But Medock's going to
25:32
Speaker 6: keep an eye on for the next couple of days.
25:33
Speaker 6: But ye're one of those things being in the head.
25:36
Speaker 6: But you know, I don't think it's too serious. But
25:39
Speaker 6: he's going to be checked up on the next few days.
25:42
Speaker 3: Will that affect the balances squad much so us? He's
25:44
Speaker 3: got three traditional locks and your starting team. Will it
25:49
Speaker 3: change your thinking much with him unavailable? Oh?
25:51
Speaker 6: Firstly, you lose someone like Paddy who's been outstanding for
25:54
Speaker 6: us and in the weekend again, she's that what he
25:55
Speaker 6: added when he came off the bench with his carry
25:57
Speaker 6: and his energy was outstanding. So it's always you always
26:00
Speaker 6: lose something if you lose Patty. But you know, as
26:03
Speaker 6: you would have heard, the depth is really important to us,
26:06
Speaker 6: and guys been out to step in and the young
26:08
Speaker 6: fellow FABS has gone pretty good since he's been in
26:11
Speaker 6: and scooped Barrett's back. And you know, we've got We've
26:14
Speaker 6: got lots of bodies here with Toops and with Lordie here,
26:17
Speaker 6: So no, I'll just be basically be an opportunity for
26:21
Speaker 6: someone else if Patty doesn't make it, and nothing will
26:24
Speaker 6: change in the way we try and play.
26:26
Speaker 3: What about Anton and Brown? Obviously the yellow card head
26:30
Speaker 3: knock as well. Watts has availability.
26:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, a bit of a being on the
26:36
Speaker 6: Snarz But yeah, I think he's another one who has
26:40
Speaker 6: to pass a couple of things as early in the week,
26:42
Speaker 6: so we'll know more by you know, as he ticks
26:45
Speaker 6: something off on Monday and Tuesday, but we'll definitely know
26:48
Speaker 6: that by the.
26:48
Speaker 3: End of Tuesday and the rest of the squad any
26:51
Speaker 3: other serious bangs.
26:53
Speaker 6: I think we've been pretty lucky. Actually, you know, boys
26:57
Speaker 6: that have come back, you know, like Scooter as an example,
27:00
Speaker 6: got his fifty to fifty five minutes and got through
27:02
Speaker 6: that well. And everyone else is tracking pretty nicely, so
27:07
Speaker 6: I don't think from memory as anybody else will be
27:10
Speaker 6: earned out.
27:12
Speaker 3: How nice will it be to get Wallace Citys and
27:16
Speaker 3: Marty Williams back to dynamic, big, powerful, skillful forwards.
27:21
Speaker 6: Yeah, the last time we saw them in all black jerseys,
27:22
Speaker 6: they were on fire, went there at the end of
27:24
Speaker 6: last year and the Northern tour, So your time's in
27:27
Speaker 6: great neck firstly, and yeah, he's room to go and
27:32
Speaker 6: they've been messive boost to us. You know, he's obviously
27:34
Speaker 6: the boys have stepped in and done really well. You know,
27:36
Speaker 6: obviously grud is still playing well and Ollie's taken his chances.
27:39
Speaker 6: But you know there's something around times with the size
27:42
Speaker 6: of him and in his dynamic scrummaging plus around the field,
27:45
Speaker 6: so he'll be awesome. And you know, I feel will
27:48
Speaker 6: he's good to go as well and back to where
27:50
Speaker 6: he was and you get that dynamic sort of ex
27:54
Speaker 6: factor from from him and whoever he's worth in our
27:57
Speaker 6: luses and it's it's pretty exciting to put together plans
28:00
Speaker 6: to get them get their hands as the ball in.
28:02
Speaker 3: His hands appreciate you. You won't want to give too
28:05
Speaker 3: much way, But how closely do you look at one
28:08
Speaker 3: of the rookies Simon Parker, Kyle Preston and and Leroy
28:12
Speaker 3: Carter new to the squads, but you know they've had
28:15
Speaker 3: a weekend. I'm sure they're pretty keen to go. Yeah.
28:18
Speaker 6: Look, but all we've been tracking those boys obviously all
28:23
Speaker 6: through super and so with the four I suppose in
28:27
Speaker 6: the Nines case five deep with with Finn and and KP.
28:31
Speaker 6: But you might have all come in trained really well,
28:35
Speaker 6: we've all got lots of energy you know from from Bomford,
28:38
Speaker 6: the KP and and Simon in his own way that
28:40
Speaker 6: we've got lots of energy. So yeah, they putting the
28:43
Speaker 6: best foot forward and putting their hand up. So yeah,
28:47
Speaker 6: if they own selection, there'll be no problem there because
28:49
Speaker 6: they're ready to go.
28:51
Speaker 3: The general theme pretty keen to build combinations and cohesion.
28:55
Speaker 3: They're given what's to come and and what you're trying
28:58
Speaker 3: to achieve in this tournament.
28:59
Speaker 6: Yeah, look, it's it's been good over over the French series. Obviously,
29:04
Speaker 6: get people to run and yeah, generally the cohesion is
29:09
Speaker 6: important going forward. We're obviously leading through Argentina into another
29:13
Speaker 6: four big test matches, especially after what we saw.
29:15
Speaker 5: On the weekend.
29:16
Speaker 6: So yeah, they've been out able to continually going forward,
29:21
Speaker 6: but still form. You know, you have to have to
29:24
Speaker 6: be informed because because of the depth and the boys
29:26
Speaker 6: pushing you. We've seen that rays not not afraid to
29:31
Speaker 6: make changes, you know, based on based on form.
29:33
Speaker 5: So yeah, see, whatever's.
29:37
Speaker 3: Your your area of expertise at the backs and the
29:40
Speaker 3: attack some good things at the weekend and then I
29:43
Speaker 3: guess some some clunky things as well. What's your assessment
29:45
Speaker 3: of how that's going.
29:48
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that's fair. Yeah, look, we've I think in.
29:53
Speaker 6: The weekend we're a couple of poor decisions and a
29:55
Speaker 6: couple of little bits of skill away from from being
29:58
Speaker 6: really effective.
30:00
Speaker 5: But that's the challenges and at this level we need
30:02
Speaker 5: to be better.
30:02
Speaker 6: We need to be able to put more moments together
30:05
Speaker 6: where we have good skill sets and.
30:07
Speaker 5: Then go to with So we're doing a lot of
30:10
Speaker 5: good things. The boys are working really.
30:11
Speaker 6: Hard and we're just going to make sure we can
30:15
Speaker 6: we can do things I suppose be accurate for longer.
30:19
Speaker 3: Is it mainly that skill set thing, because if you're
30:21
Speaker 3: if a past sticks or the ball's not dropped, that
30:25
Speaker 3: the shape looks like it's there.
30:27
Speaker 6: Yeah, well we feel like yeah, yeah, we feel like, yeah,
30:31
Speaker 6: we've just got to get some continuity in that game,
30:33
Speaker 6: and we've got some good ideas around how we get there.
30:36
Speaker 6: But I suppose the skill set part is massive skill
30:40
Speaker 6: set part of just being able to pass that way
30:42
Speaker 6: under pressure, understand that teams are going to want to
30:44
Speaker 6: take away our time and space, and understand how to
30:46
Speaker 6: beat that.
30:48
Speaker 3: Billy Propter a guy you know, well, I guess from
30:53
Speaker 3: the outside, maybe it seems like it's taking them some
30:58
Speaker 3: time to adjust to Test Rugby. That that happens to
31:01
Speaker 3: every run to a degree, it's a new combination At
31:05
Speaker 3: Test Rugby, there's less time and space how to assess
31:09
Speaker 3: where he's at and how he's going.
31:11
Speaker 6: Yeah, look, he's like he's slodling too. The in the
31:13
Speaker 6: group really well and it isn't afraid to lead at times,
31:16
Speaker 6: you know, around things. He's a real expert on you know,
31:18
Speaker 6: especially around the defensive side of the ball.
31:20
Speaker 5: So he's been he's been great in the environment.
31:23
Speaker 6: I think it's just a you know, we know Billy's
31:27
Speaker 6: really consistent and everything he does, and he just needs
31:30
Speaker 6: to keep striving to do that.
31:32
Speaker 5: You know him and him and Jory have being been
31:34
Speaker 5: going really well together.
31:35
Speaker 6: But whenever you know any of our other midfielders like
31:38
Speaker 6: Big Jim and Quinn and now we've got the chance
31:40
Speaker 6: up with lots of pressures. It's a great it's an
31:42
Speaker 6: area of great competition. So it's good that the boys
31:45
Speaker 6: know they got to they got to front every week.
31:48
Speaker 3: The wings as well, are they pretty up for grabs?
31:51
Speaker 3: Are just like a lot of areas in the team.
31:53
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think generally generally the whole team, I think
31:55
Speaker 6: everybody knows that as he coach raises prepared to make
31:59
Speaker 6: change and make make big decisions.
32:01
Speaker 5: So guys are on edge and know they need the front.
32:03
Speaker 5: And the wingers are no different.
32:05
Speaker 6: Like you look at the money and and book for
32:09
Speaker 6: Leroy who have been around, you know they're training really
32:12
Speaker 6: really well. So yeah, that's it's a good place to
32:15
Speaker 6: be all throughout their back line that guys know they've
32:17
Speaker 6: got to they've got a front.
32:20
Speaker 3: What do you expect? You expect much the same this
32:24
Speaker 3: week in terms of what the Pomber's brought, as it
32:27
Speaker 3: easier to pay for us at a team again when
32:30
Speaker 3: you've just played them.
32:31
Speaker 6: I don't know if it's easier, it's it's actually been
32:32
Speaker 6: quite different.
32:33
Speaker 5: We had France three times in a row.
32:36
Speaker 6: Yeah, you can't make massive changes, so I think I
32:39
Speaker 6: think the Argentinians will be pretty passionate around around the game. Again,
32:43
Speaker 6: I think by their own standards, I'd say they might
32:46
Speaker 6: have been a little bit off physically in the in
32:47
Speaker 6: the first half last week, and probably I think I
32:50
Speaker 6: probably heard Old Philipe given them a bit of a
32:52
Speaker 6: rover at half time and they're a bit of a
32:53
Speaker 6: different theme physically in the second half. But yeah, generally,
32:57
Speaker 6: you know, we know each other's game pretty well, but
33:02
Speaker 6: we'll make.
33:02
Speaker 5: A few tweaks as to.
33:04
Speaker 6: Maybe get a little bit elder a surprise so that
33:06
Speaker 6: we can we can hurt them in difference, But.
33:09
Speaker 5: It's going to be the same. It's going to be
33:11
Speaker 5: a physical battle.
33:12
Speaker 6: You're going to have to be on and give them
33:14
Speaker 6: nothing easier otherwise they'll hurt us.
33:16
Speaker 3: The full pack's going pretty well, scrum dominant, line out,
33:21
Speaker 3: winning ball and three mall tries are laying a pretty
33:24
Speaker 3: good platform.
33:25
Speaker 6: Set piece was pretty pretty awesome in the weekly one.
33:27
Speaker 6: It Yeah, and it obviously provides provides the good the
33:33
Speaker 6: good malls and the and the good scrum, but also
33:35
Speaker 6: gives us the option to tie forwards in and create
33:37
Speaker 6: space in other parts of the field. So I make
33:40
Speaker 6: the boys doing a great job up the up front,
33:42
Speaker 6: and I need to keep driving that.
33:46
Speaker 3: I appreciate your focus is totally on this test, but
33:49
Speaker 3: as a coach, to keep one eye on South Riklin
33:52
Speaker 3: and Australia. It was a hell of an upsets in
33:55
Speaker 3: Alice Park. And you know, you guys go home and
33:57
Speaker 3: play two sets against the spring Box. There is a
34:01
Speaker 3: I don't know, part of your brain that's analyzing that
34:05
Speaker 3: even even though you've got this test at hand.
34:08
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think, yeah, you know, ninety five percent focused
34:11
Speaker 6: on what you've got here, but you know, I always
34:13
Speaker 6: going to have a bit of a look at who's
34:14
Speaker 6: the next opposition. That's just the nature of the game.
34:16
Speaker 6: So you know, having keep and nice and I haven't
34:19
Speaker 6: seen the game from the weekend yet. It sort of
34:20
Speaker 6: obviously happened when we were getting ready and I saw
34:23
Speaker 6: a few highlights around. Ozzie scored some you know, quite
34:28
Speaker 6: opportunity to strives by the locks and took every opportunity
34:30
Speaker 6: that came.
34:30
Speaker 5: It must have been an awesome game, but mate, they're both.
34:35
Speaker 6: There's going to be four awesome test matches to finish
34:38
Speaker 6: the TRC, so it's all up for grabs. But you know,
34:40
Speaker 6: the box will be better next week. And I was
34:42
Speaker 6: here obviously, you know, playing some great rugby, so all
34:47
Speaker 6: to look forward to.
34:49
Speaker 3: Just lastly, I guess, in terms of when you come
34:51
Speaker 3: off a win, how do you approach the week same
34:56
Speaker 3: opposition as a total reset and how how satisfying it
35:01
Speaker 3: would it be to go home with two victories from
35:04
Speaker 3: from Argentina because it's an increasingly tough place to come
35:07
Speaker 3: given the amosphere, given their improvement under Felipe over the
35:11
Speaker 3: last year in particular.
35:13
Speaker 6: Yeah, I suppose, Yeah, it might be that's what we
35:15
Speaker 6: came here for and it's it's what you know, it
35:18
Speaker 6: was aimed to win twice over here, so it would
35:21
Speaker 6: be really satisfying. Yeah, look, it's looking forward to looking
35:28
Speaker 6: forward after that is what we're doing.
35:29
Speaker 5: The way.
35:30
Speaker 6: We've got a week off between the Argentina game and
35:32
Speaker 6: the South African games, So yeah, happy, were happy when
35:35
Speaker 6: we're at We've gotta we've got to be their best
35:37
Speaker 6: again to beat Argentina on the weekend and and then
35:40
Speaker 6: we'll we'll look into what comes after that, but you know,
35:43
Speaker 6: the boys need to be excited about what's coming with
35:45
Speaker 6: with the ARGI in the weekend and then and then
35:47
Speaker 6: the recidity I see.
35:49
Speaker 2: We'll come back on Rugby Direct very shortly. We've got
35:51
Speaker 2: to talk the box, we've got to talk to Wallabies
35:52
Speaker 2: and we're gonna talk the Women's World Cup after this.
35:55
Speaker 1: This is Rugby Direct, a podcast for real rugby fans.
36:02
Speaker 2: Every drive, drive and sixty sec, every tackle back, the tackle,
36:05
Speaker 2: feet up again.
36:10
Speaker 4: Before it's Ruy Direct.
36:13
Speaker 2: You're back with Rugby Direct, powered by four Cliffs Solutions. Well,
36:17
Speaker 2: this was a hell of an upset Mapes. I don't
36:21
Speaker 2: think any saw this coming, especially at twenty two zip
36:24
Speaker 2: down the Wallabies beating the spring Box. This was quite
36:29
Speaker 2: incredible at Alice Park to see the Wallabies find something
36:34
Speaker 2: that they haven't really had for twenty odd years and
36:38
Speaker 2: it was you know, it was to me. To me,
36:40
Speaker 2: I think it was their best win probably since the
36:42
Speaker 2: three World Cup semi final against the All Blacks. In
36:45
Speaker 2: all honesty, that was, you know, the Wallabies of old
36:49
Speaker 2: at Alice Park. What did you make of it?
36:52
Speaker 3: I saw Tim Horn tweet something that he has never
36:55
Speaker 3: been more proud of the Wallabies post retirement, so you're
37:00
Speaker 3: probably on the money there with your comparison to go
37:03
Speaker 3: back as far as three in terms of a Wallaby's
37:05
Speaker 3: performance to really fly the flag, they did turn up.
37:10
Speaker 4: Relatedly in that line.
37:11
Speaker 3: Series, you could argue they could have, would have should
37:14
Speaker 3: have won the second Test, and they did win the third.
37:15
Speaker 3: So there have been massive sids of improvement from this
37:19
Speaker 3: Wallaby side. But I still don't think anyone really gave
37:22
Speaker 3: them a chance of going to Alice Park and winning
37:25
Speaker 3: that Test. They were depleted going back to James O'Connor
37:28
Speaker 3: at first five.
37:29
Speaker 4: There are a lot of question marks about that.
37:32
Speaker 3: Pretty down on the ranks elsewhere as well, and then
37:36
Speaker 3: down twenty two no. I was messaging a few chat
37:38
Speaker 3: groups saying shit, the Wallaby is again pumped here and
37:42
Speaker 3: low and behold. They go on to score thirty eight
37:45
Speaker 3: unanswered points to blow away the world champions on home soil,
37:49
Speaker 3: at their spiritual home. Just an absolutely phenomenal result. A
37:55
Speaker 3: word on the spring box. Just bizarre tactics from me.
37:58
Speaker 3: I don't know whether it's Tony Brown's influence or what
38:03
Speaker 3: it was, but they went so far away from their strengths.
38:06
Speaker 3: We talk about the balance of the Blacks game and
38:09
Speaker 3: where their strength lies. Well, the Springbox tried to play
38:12
Speaker 3: all the rugby was a money La box through the
38:15
Speaker 3: intercept to Joseph sue Lee didn't have his best out
38:21
Speaker 3: at ten, but there was so many performers for the
38:24
Speaker 3: Wallabies went there. Tom Wright superb, Max Jorgensen on the wing,
38:29
Speaker 3: Harry Wilson leading from the fronts just a magnificent result
38:33
Speaker 3: that you know, really lights up the Rugby Championship, doesn't it.
38:37
Speaker 2: It certainly does, and you're right, no one predicted it,
38:40
Speaker 2: really and yet the Wallabies came and delivered and it
38:45
Speaker 2: was such a bizarre spring Box performance. It was like
38:47
Speaker 2: there they've been taken of by aliens after half an
38:51
Speaker 2: hour or whatever. In that game, and especially in the
38:54
Speaker 2: second spell that they was trying to play a lot
38:56
Speaker 2: of rugby when that is not necessarily the spring Box way.
39:00
Speaker 2: And you look at the stats post game, you know
39:03
Speaker 2: they carried the ball one hundred and thirty nine times
39:05
Speaker 2: compared to the Wallabys forty seven. They pass a lot
39:08
Speaker 2: more than kicked. Their ratio to kicking was well outside
39:12
Speaker 2: the Wallabies. It just it felt like a Springbok performance
39:16
Speaker 2: where they thought they were going to win and it
39:19
Speaker 2: was an opportunity to maybe try a few tactics that
39:22
Speaker 2: they had up their sleeve, with an eye to the
39:24
Speaker 2: all Blacks, with an eye to quote unquote bigger challenges ahead,
39:27
Speaker 2: and they ultimately came undone. And you know, I think
39:31
Speaker 2: there's a little bit of you know, in Rassi erasmus is.
39:33
Speaker 2: I think the phrase was dog shit or something like
39:36
Speaker 2: that that he used. And you never will see the Springboks,
39:39
Speaker 2: they don't think play that badly again in a rugby
39:41
Speaker 2: championship game. It was like the souls evaporated them and
39:44
Speaker 2: they forgot to how to play springbox rugby. But to me,
39:46
Speaker 2: it felt like there was something bigger at played that
39:48
Speaker 2: maybe they were trying to trial things, thinking this game
39:51
Speaker 2: was going to be an easier win, and they ultimately
39:54
Speaker 2: came unstuck.
39:56
Speaker 3: I think there's a bit of arrogance, to be honest, elliot.
39:59
Speaker 3: I think, well, when you're twenty two and all up,
40:02
Speaker 3: I think you rightly think that you're on a roll,
40:05
Speaker 3: that you're gone unassailable league. The match was in the bag,
40:08
Speaker 3: and I think that's how it all came so easy
40:12
Speaker 3: for the Springboks too. See Calisi just waltzing through some
40:16
Speaker 3: really soft defense. They was scoring tries it will and
40:19
Speaker 3: the way they played with reckless abandon really did play
40:24
Speaker 3: into the Wallaby's hands. So I think what we also
40:27
Speaker 3: saw is probably their preparation for that test. They hadn't
40:32
Speaker 3: been put under pressure. They played Italy and Georgia leading
40:35
Speaker 3: into that game, and it really did feel like there
40:37
Speaker 3: was panic in the ranks as the Wallabys came back.
40:40
Speaker 3: They didn't have any answers. There was a lack of composure,
40:43
Speaker 3: lack of leadership. They didn't get you know, the bomb
40:46
Speaker 3: squad was nullified Russia. Russmus named his team on the Monday,
40:52
Speaker 3: and I think that's that sort of messaging perhaps seeped
40:55
Speaker 3: through the squads and into that performance. So he'll be
41:00
Speaker 3: tearing down the walls. You'd hate to be a player
41:05
Speaker 3: if you've seen the footage of him really tearing shreds
41:07
Speaker 3: off them during what was at the twenty twenty three
41:10
Speaker 3: World Cup.
41:10
Speaker 4: After there, I think.
41:11
Speaker 3: It was at the pool loss to Ireland's saying they
41:15
Speaker 3: didn't care and that the mums at home were embarrassed. Well,
41:18
Speaker 3: what's he going to be like this week?
41:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's going to be some hair drivers in the
41:23
Speaker 2: changing rooms. You would think this week in the spring
41:26
Speaker 2: box you would suspect, well, I don't think he's going
41:28
Speaker 2: to name his team on a Monday again, but you
41:30
Speaker 2: never know. It's Rassi and they would have to make
41:33
Speaker 2: some changes this week. I'm not sure Marley Libok is
41:36
Speaker 2: the test ten that the Springboks need with the style
41:40
Speaker 2: that they usually want to play.
41:43
Speaker 3: No, I agree, And I don't know how close guys
41:47
Speaker 3: like Damian Delende were and how much of an influence
41:51
Speaker 3: they may have made, but I think Andre pollad' is
41:55
Speaker 3: still their best test ten for me. I don't know
41:58
Speaker 3: how far away he is, whether that was a tactical
42:01
Speaker 3: decision or not, but.
42:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, look, give credit to the Wallabies.
42:06
Speaker 3: Anytime you're twenty two all down, they could have dropped
42:08
Speaker 3: their heads, drop their bundles, their altitude and been completely humiliated,
42:15
Speaker 3: and instead they rallied And I think that says a
42:18
Speaker 3: lot about what Joe Schmidt's built with that team. And Jeez,
42:22
Speaker 3: Rugby Australia, you know, you'd have to think they should
42:26
Speaker 3: be doing everything they can to tap up twiggy forest.
42:30
Speaker 4: You know.
42:30
Speaker 3: Mortgage, the mortgage, the Mines do everything they can to
42:33
Speaker 3: get them to stay because he's done an amazing rebuild,
42:40
Speaker 3: hasn't there with that team?
42:41
Speaker 2: He certainly has. Yeah, it's been been nothing short of remarkable.
42:44
Speaker 2: And you know with the with the rugby championship now
42:48
Speaker 2: flipped on its head, it makes you know the coming
42:51
Speaker 2: weeks very very interesting and she'd expect I forget to
42:54
Speaker 2: probably balance back this week. But with an eye to
42:56
Speaker 2: the blood is low, Liam and two legs, one at
42:58
Speaker 2: Eden Park, one in Perth, that all of a sudden,
43:01
Speaker 2: not that it's not always interesting the blood is low,
43:03
Speaker 2: but you know, knowing the spring Box Wallabies have that
43:06
Speaker 2: one of the spring Box in their back pocket. It
43:08
Speaker 2: just it's a little bit extra spice.
43:11
Speaker 4: Oh it does indeed.
43:11
Speaker 3: And look the Pumas weren't at the best of the
43:14
Speaker 3: weekend either, but they'll pull off a result in this
43:16
Speaker 3: tournament as well.
43:17
Speaker 4: So it's a fascinating rugby championship.
43:19
Speaker 3: What about all that result, the wall we's beaten, the
43:23
Speaker 3: stunning the spring Box, the All Blacks regain the world
43:25
Speaker 3: number one title, do they deserve it doesn't matter.
43:29
Speaker 4: Do we put any stock on that?
43:32
Speaker 2: Not overly because it could very well change you know
43:35
Speaker 2: in a week's time. I'm not sure if the ranking permutations,
43:38
Speaker 2: but I think it's pretty tight at the top, and
43:40
Speaker 2: if the All Blacks sorry South Africa win then they
43:44
Speaker 2: could go back this week. And if the All Blacks win,
43:46
Speaker 2: they may not retain the ranking. It is so tight
43:49
Speaker 2: at the top. What I think it does illustrate, though,
43:51
Speaker 2: is the tightness of world rugby at the moment. We
43:54
Speaker 2: probably haven't seen a time like this. I mean, we
43:56
Speaker 2: talked for twenty minutes at the start of the podcast
43:59
Speaker 2: that the All Blacks aren't playing their best rugby, but
44:01
Speaker 2: their ranks top of the world, so there are certainly
44:04
Speaker 2: things to improve on. But I think ultimately it just
44:07
Speaker 2: does show how type the thing is, the type the
44:10
Speaker 2: rankings are, and how tight the world game is at
44:13
Speaker 2: the moment. When it could have been three teams at
44:15
Speaker 2: number one yesterday the spring Box the All Blacks if
44:17
Speaker 2: they had lost, would have been Ireland would have gone
44:19
Speaker 2: to number one. So it's a real squeeze at the
44:21
Speaker 2: moment and hard to know put too much stock into
44:24
Speaker 2: it week to week, But maybe if you're sitting up
44:25
Speaker 2: there at the end of the calendar year, you go
44:28
Speaker 2: that's an achievement and a job well done from the
44:31
Speaker 2: All Blacks or whoever setting up the top.
44:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, I tend to agree. I think to take the
44:36
Speaker 4: man too, you.
44:37
Speaker 3: Need to defeat the champions and so the All Blacks
44:43
Speaker 3: won't be satisfied with their performance and they've got bigger
44:46
Speaker 3: fish to fry in many respects, don't they with the
44:49
Speaker 3: I think they'd rather win the Rugby Championship title then
44:53
Speaker 3: be deemed world number one. I think you're right that
44:57
Speaker 3: it does mean something at the end of a calendar year,
44:59
Speaker 3: because things can change so rapidly.
45:02
Speaker 2: Finally, on Rugby Directly, Women's Rugby World Cut poised to
45:06
Speaker 2: get under way later this week. Saturday morning, New Zealand
45:10
Speaker 2: time England in the United States kick off the Blackfurn's
45:13
Speaker 2: first game as next Monday morning against Spain half past four.
45:18
Speaker 2: As they get their campaign underway. They have Japan the
45:20
Speaker 2: following week. Look that first game LAMB, a game that
45:23
Speaker 2: New Zealand should win and win well and should bank
45:27
Speaker 2: the five points and get their tournament off to a
45:30
Speaker 2: good start. But from a Women's World Cup mean this
45:32
Speaker 2: is going to be a big tournament. In the UK,
45:35
Speaker 2: Women's Rugby's Grand exponentially over the last decade or thereabouts.
45:39
Speaker 2: This promises to be quite a special tournament that maybe
45:42
Speaker 2: we haven't seen the likes of in women's rugby before
45:44
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. Played in twenty twenty two in New
45:47
Speaker 2: Zealand was a great tournament, but it was over three
45:50
Speaker 2: venues and obviously the finals Read and Park were a
45:52
Speaker 2: great success. But feels like the interest level in England
45:56
Speaker 2: is higher than it is anywhere around the globe, so
45:59
Speaker 2: it should be a pretty special tournament.
46:02
Speaker 3: That's right, Ellie, and I think it's a sign of
46:05
Speaker 3: the support in the UK and Europe in particular for
46:09
Speaker 3: women's sport. Football is the same the English women's football
46:14
Speaker 3: team going and winning the Euros and the support they
46:18
Speaker 3: received and the parades when they came home, and that'll
46:21
Speaker 3: be rerecated with the English rugby team. I think they'll
46:24
Speaker 3: go close to selling out twicking them come the business
46:28
Speaker 3: end of that tournament. It will be really well supported.
46:31
Speaker 3: The Black Ferns the traveling affair, but aren't they getting
46:35
Speaker 3: around England. I think they're in York for the opening
46:38
Speaker 3: ceremony at the moments, and we'll travel around the country
46:41
Speaker 3: and they'll feel that support and the buzz around the tournament.
46:47
Speaker 3: There's nothing quite like a World Cup, so very interesting
46:50
Speaker 3: to see how they go. Just to just one word
46:53
Speaker 3: on I read a piece from Oslot in The Times
46:56
Speaker 3: about the South African First five and just a truly
47:00
Speaker 3: remarkable story of how she was left as a baby
47:05
Speaker 3: at an orphanage and how Rugby's had a massive influence
47:10
Speaker 3: on her life and career and she still hasn't hasn't
47:12
Speaker 3: made appearance. So it's just one of those really unique stories.
47:17
Speaker 3: And I guess you know something that is quite unique
47:20
Speaker 3: to South Africa. Those sorts of tales are more common
47:24
Speaker 3: than other parts of the world. So yeah, really interesting
47:28
Speaker 3: insights and amazing story of how she's grown her life
47:32
Speaker 3: and got herself to the world stage.
47:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds like a fascinating story and read that,
47:37
Speaker 2: so I'll go and catch up on it. Liam, thanks
47:40
Speaker 2: as always for your time and enjoy the week ahead
47:42
Speaker 2: and we'll catch up again soon here on Rugby Director.
47:46
Speaker 2: I thanks to Lars and Buzz English and Rugby Director
47:48
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47:51
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47:57
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