Kiwi bench the key
13 Sep 2008
Richie McCaw has lauded the effort of his team’s substitutes for their come-from-behind 28-24 victory over Australia.
The All Blacks were struggling at 17-7 down after two Australian tries either side of the break. Eight minutes into the second stanza on came hooker Keven Mealamu for Andrew Hore, scrumhalf Piri Weepu for Jimmy Cowan, while Stephen Donald – normally a flyhalf - replaced Ma’a Nonu at 12.
Three tries in 20 minutes and a 28-17 scoreline was the result, and McCaw acknowledged the subs’ contribution in the turnaround.
“With the substitutes and the fresh legs you expect that sort of impact, and especially with quality individuals like Piri, Keven and Stephen it adds to the impetus,” McCaw said after the match.
As always, the breakdown was crucial in determining the outcome. “In the second half we got stronger, but in the first half we didn’t really play. We got a rev up at half-time, which was deserved. We definitely tried to attack the breakdown, but we were at the back end of it during the opening half. But from there on we got the momentum we needed,” said McCaw.
Wallaby captain Stirling Mortlock said his team were extremely positive heading into the shed, but lamented the slow ball they received from the contact points due to McCaw and co.
“At half-time we were very positive and we came out in that second period feeling we held the ascendancy. It felt as though the breakdown hurt us, it was hard to get any momentum. The battle of the breakdown with the new laws is massive, and we came second today,” said Mortlock.
McCaw paid tribute to all three teams in the competition for a fiercely contested Tri-Nations. “The last few weeks just shows how any one of the teams can beat anyone and it shows how tight the tournament is.
118 Comments
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13 Sep 2008, 16:20 pm
#99 vindicated:
Hey Vindi – you boys put on a good game.
13 Sep 2008, 16:25 pm
#101 Rugby_Princess: Yes, except for the fact that they fell asleep for about 20 minutes in the second half
I thought we might lose by alot more than 4 points
But well dont to your boys – they are still the team to beat
13 Sep 2008, 16:27 pm
#101 Rugby_Princess: Well I did say take the 28!! Man what a game a bit too close for my liking. Full credit to the Wallys, you could not ask anymore from anyone on that field no matter who you back. For me its one of those games where there is no loser but someone gets the prize.
good work AB’s, you showed your mettle and why, even in our rebuilding stage we are no 1.
13 Sep 2008, 16:28 pm
Gotta say – happy with the win
But not real sure about the game plan.
I’d like to see us play more “rugby”. Try more (‘cos I think we’re probably good enough).
My feeling is that we give the ball (& therefore the initiative) back to to the other side too readily, and too often. There’s a fair bit of arrogance that “we’ll catch them, and win the turnover ball back”. Well, against a side like Oz, that doesn’t happen. They’re very good at retaining the ball, and as a result we spend more time defending than attacking. And, let them back into the game. We hand the initiative back all the time.
One of my main gripes is our flat back-line alignment. It’s easy meat for a rush up defence. We hardly ever spin the ball wide any more, seemingly preferring to set-up another mid-field maul/ruck.
And we’re wasting the 5mtrs the new laws give us at scrum time – most of the time the #8 (usually Rodney) picks the ball up from the scrum. He either tries to make a metre or two (and is caught inside the gain line), or he runs a pace or two, and then passes to the 1/2 back. Either way, the 5 mtr advantage is lost. Why not get it wide, and see what happens?
As I say, we won, and I guess I’m “happy” (it’s better than coming 3rd, eh, bokke supporters
). But, it could. should be better.
13 Sep 2008, 16:34 pm
#101 Rugby_Princess: I also think Kaplan was pretty rubbish
13 Sep 2008, 16:37 pm
#102 vindicated: oooh bad spelling – thats well done to your boys
13 Sep 2008, 17:00 pm
The other game thread is closed for comments
13 Sep 2008, 23:41 pm
Listen I am getting ‘gatvol’ to see the Boks get the wooden spoon again
Since the Tri-Nations started in 1996 the Abs have won 9 times
the Boks twice in 1998 and 2004 and the Aussies twice in 2000/1.
What is even more sickening that the Aussies have a better
record.
In total 56 games were played and the position is as follows.
New Zeeland Played 56 W 39 D 0 L 17 69.6 % W
Australia Played 56 W 23 D 1 L 32 41.1 % W
South Africa Played 56 W 21 D 1 L 34 37.5 % W
If the above does not make you sick,I don’t know what will.
What is even more sickening is the New Zeeland’s
domination of the Super series.which started as the
Super 10 in 1993.
1993 Transvaal
1994/95 Queensland
Super 12
1996/7 Blues
1998/9/2000 Crusaders
2001 Brumbies
2002 Crusaders
2003 Blues
2004 Brumbies
2005 Crusaders
Super 14
2006 Crusaders
2007 Bulls
2008 Crusaders.
The Super competition has been played 16 times and has been
completely dominated by New Zeeland teams with the Crusaders
winning 7 times,Blues 3 times,The Aussies had 4 winners (Brumbies and
Queensland twice each). South Africa has the worst record with
only two wins Tranvaal in 1993 and the Bulls in 2007.
How bad our teams our doing is clear from the above.So anyone
staring themselves blind against our Currie Cup competitions as the
ultimate of rugby is living in a fools paradise.
What we need to get competitive is a complete overall of our Provincial
rugby to make us strong internationally.perhaps we should be looking
at restructuring our Provinces.There are to many milk cows in our
Currie cup and to see teams like the Falcons get two massive
hidings on consecutive weekends makes a mockery of the competition
while the constant movement of players and the use of foreign players
should be looked at again.
14 Sep 2008, 02:48 am
Well, NZ are — quite simply — much better at rugby than SA. The End.
14 Sep 2008, 03:12 am
#105 vindicated: Vindi I thought Kaplan was very fair, pinging each for every offense and quite literal with ihis warnings. There were some very dubious passes in the last quarter from the Wallys that were missed, but apart from that I thought he was the best to date or that I have seen for awhile.
#108 brentie: Brentie, thats how it is and you cannot hide from the cold facts as you present them. I am at a loss as to why SA are the underachievers- quite often I get the sense they are building to something quite formidable and then they go off the boil???
I would really love to see more games like last night, absolute ball biter right into red time and even if the AB’s had lost, well, the Wallys would have obviously deserved their win. Cheers
14 Sep 2008, 03:12 am
#109. Never a truer comment. I generally read all these posts with amusement. NZ is consistently the bench mark in world rugby. Sometimes I feel our SA friends are tarred with the same brush as my Aussie friends, “tall poppy syndrome”. Emmm, maybe if it smells like sour grapes, it is.
14 Sep 2008, 05:05 am
More boys
Here is a good line from the NZ Herald this morning :
“All Black wins are too easily taken for granted. The culture of expectation often prevents the full extent of the achievement being appreciated.”
This is true too. We do expect a lot – no doubt that is partly why they do win, because simply that is where the “bar” is set – but also why ABs feel so much pressure.
14 Sep 2008, 07:09 am
#111 Rugby_Princess:
I don’t think anything was being taken for granted by all the Kiwi fans at the game
14 Sep 2008, 07:59 am
Well what have we learned post world cup. I would suggest, must pundits would not have predicted the All Blacks would again emerge as Tri Nations champions and the worlds number one ranked team. Lacking depth in many positions GH has shrugged off what would have been a devastating situation to most other national teams. Instead, he has persisted with a group of experienced and new players and has begun the re-building process. They stumbled earlier on but have built a team with the ability to win tight matches as we witnessed in Brisbane last night.
The All Blacks can now look forward with some confidence to their EOYT and with it another chance of completing a second Grand Slam – against England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales on the one tour – in three years.
As for the Springboks, they promised much after their much-heralded RWC title but again showed themselves to be a distant third in the Tri-nations, instead inciting the anti PDV critics in the process. The EOYT will be the death knell for this much-aligned coach. The pommie press will seize upon any shenanigans and ill-conceived comments by this man. This will affect team morale and will spiral out of control. Prediction, a tour from hell for the Boks.
The Wallabies have fought bravely throughout the series, but have been ultimately outmanned. The competition has exposed some major weaknesses in their set piece play. To their credit, they have gone about their business of re-building thanks in part to a very skilled coaching team at the helm. The disappointment of last nights defeat will only be an overnight hangover, tomorrow they will be fine. Deans would have learnt a lot from his first year as a national coach. One thing you can say about Deans, he will learn from his mistakes and I predict a successful EOYT.
14 Sep 2008, 10:23 am
#113 horiman: Good thread mate. EOYT will probably end in a grand slam with the new levels of confidence the young fellas will be feeling. They are knitting as ‘team’ and not individuals, playing for the whole rather than themselves.
I agree whole heartedly that Deans has only begin to work his magic on the Wallys and we may not get out jail so easily next time. Was a savage loss for the Wallys, but a great win for the AB’s and NZ.
14 Sep 2008, 22:06 pm
114 Horiman
I agree with you but would love to hear what you think is the
way forward for South African Rugby or should we be content to
win the World Cup once in a decade,the Tri-Nations every 7th year
and the Super 14 only if the Abs put their top players on ice?
14 Sep 2008, 22:16 pm
WHY does this site close theads?
Stupid really.Hasnt Keo got a good enough servers?
16 Sep 2008, 15:54 pm
#104 BillTong:
Three tries were wide out???
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