Yeah not disputing DMac played badly first half... just saying that the forwards were so poor it didn't give him much of a platform to work off... and agree some of his kicks were awful... just hope this performance doesn't reappear at the World Cup.. if it does, it probably means our forwards are under pressure and Richie Mounga is injured...JM2K6 wrote: Sat Aug 05, 2023 7:24 pmYup, I really like DMac but he was absolute piss bar some nice little runs. No excuses, it's all on him.ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Aug 05, 2023 7:19 pmHe kicked the ball badly and aimlessly. Missed touch on a penalty, kick the ball dead, sliced into the centre of the field when there was loads of space to aim for. His running was headless and offered nothing to those outside him. He killed any hope of fluidity or a platform in the backs.
Number 10 - DMac had a horrible first half. But was this because he had no platform? He had to play very deep all the time as had barely any front foot ball. Compare that to how he performed against Argentina when he was near faultless. The point being, if the forwards aren't doing their job we'll probably lose no matter who is at 10... after halftime the All Black forwards were so much better.. obviously had a rocket at halftime from Schmidt... and a gentle cuddle from Fozzie... and DMac suddenly looked himself again and wasn't kicking away stupidly... Richie came on and showed his class, but I suspect we probably would have still won had DMac stayed on... momentum was already shifting...
Cane was anonymous and comfortably outplayed by his opposite number.
As for Cane. The less said the better... I'm not a big fan, and something is wrong if your captain is hooked with ten minutes to go and the game in the balance... I wonder if his neck is still troubling him...