Ireland in NZ

[Enzedder]

Nice bait but the obvious call was start Taukei'aho and have Taylor on the bench

If you're only as good as your last game, Taylor would be gone. Others have paid the price.

he should change his last name to Barrett.

You Cantabs are bloody obsessed.

[Grandpa]

I see Scott Barrett might be ruled out with a knee injury with Akira likely to be named in his place. A blow for Foster.

[Ymx]

A better chance of finishing with 15 without scooter mind you.

[Uncle fester]

Hard to say how tomorrow will go. Kiwis will be absolutely desperate not to lose this and this could be either positive or negative fort them but Ireland don't have a great track record with delivering the coup de grace.

[SaintK]

Hard to say how tomorrow will go. Kiwis will be absolutely desperate not to lose this and this could be either positive or negative fort them but Ireland don't have a great track record with delivering the coup de grace.

Reckon the AB's will turn the tables this week and win +11

[PornDog]

Hard to say how tomorrow will go. Kiwis will be absolutely desperate not to lose this and this could be either positive or negative fort them but Ireland don't have a great track record with delivering the coup de grace.

Reckon the AB's will turn the tables this week and win +11

That's certainly the most likely outcome. But....as Fester said, a huge amount of pressure is on NZ and you never can tell how that pressure will be handled.

[Guy Smiley]

Hard to say how tomorrow will go. Kiwis will be absolutely desperate not to lose this and this could be either positive or negative fort them but Ireland don't have a great track record with delivering the coup de grace.

Reckon the AB's will turn the tables this week and win +11

That's certainly the most likely outcome. But....as Fester said, a huge amount of pressure is on NZ and you never can tell how that pressure will be handled.

There’s massive pressure on the team and coach, there have been quite a few articles that I’ve seen seriously questioning the direction the team and coach have taken…

So the desperation to win will be there, for sure. The question is will they have the composure to match the desperation… and Ireland have shown they have the power and the smarts to win.

It’s going to be juicy. Spicy, even with just a hint of woodsmoke on the aftertaste.

[fishfoodie]

Reckon the AB's will turn the tables this week and win +11

That's certainly the most likely outcome. But....as Fester said, a huge amount of pressure is on NZ and you never can tell how that pressure will be handled.

There’s massive pressure on the team and coach, there have been quite a few articles that I’ve seen seriously questioning the direction the team and coach have taken…

So the desperation to win will be there, for sure. The question is will they have the composure to match the desperation… and Ireland have shown they have the power and the smarts to win.

It’s going to be juicy. Spicy, even with just a hint of woodsmoke on the aftertaste.

The thing is if the pressure leads to a lack of Discipline; because that's been a significant factor is Irelands recent successes. If the penalty count is >10-12, you can almost guarantee cards.

[redderneck]

Look, we've already achieved enough on this tour for it to have been very worthwhile. I think an old sacrifice bunt in the last test, to give Foster enough of a bone to see him kept in a job, wouldn't be the worst outcome from an Irish POV.

We'll need to keep the optics reasonable though - nothing too obvious. Jonny taking a headknock after 20 mins or so and Joey coming on early ought to do it.

[Thor Sedan]

Think NZ will card themselves out of the match again. Discipline just doesn't seem to be getting better.

Ireland have the confidence and know how to beat us.

[Guy Smiley]

Look, we've already achieved enough on this tour for it to have been very worthwhile. I think an old sacrifice bunt in the last test, to give Foster enough of a bone to see him kept in a job, wouldn't be the worst outcome from an Irish POV.

We'll need to keep the optics reasonable though - nothing too obvious. Jonny taking a headknock after 20 mins or so and Joey coming on early ought to do it.

Fuck.

[Thor Sedan]

Look, we've already achieved enough on this tour for it to have been very worthwhile. I think an old sacrifice bunt in the last test, to give Foster enough of a bone to see him kept in a job, wouldn't be the worst outcome from an Irish POV.

We'll need to keep the optics reasonable though - nothing too obvious. Jonny taking a headknock after 20 mins or so and Joey coming on early ought to do it.

Outstanding

[Torquemada 1420]

Hard to say how tomorrow will go. Kiwis will be absolutely desperate not to lose this and this could be either positive or negative fort them but Ireland don't have a great track record with delivering the coup de grace.

Reckon the AB's will turn the tables this week and win +11

It's a better players NZ side for me with Havili and Jordan in.... although Jordan sacrificed to the wing in order to keep JB at FB might limit his attacking threat. It also means Wife Beater goes to left wing.

[Grandpa]

There’s massive pressure on the team and coach, there have been quite a few articles that I’ve seen seriously questioning the direction the team and coach have taken…

Another one today...


NZ Herald
Everyone loves a good horror film right?

One that really creeps into your psyche and flashes back at you days, weeks, months down the track.

The best ones start innocuously enough, only hinting at the monstrosity to come. They slowly creep up through levels of dread until eventually the true heart of the terror is exposed and you're crippled by anxiety with every new scene rekindling and exacerbating the accelerating tension.

Welcome to All Blacks: Hell Is Around the Corner.

The opening scene is in Japan, the protagonist finds themselves on the wrong end of a humiliation at the hands of the worst of all teams to lose to: England. The World Cup exit sets the narrative, although the fans are strangely muted in their response. Talk of maturity, talk of enjoying it while it lasted, talk of a new world where the ascendency will be regained. As concerning as it should have been, the Tokyo experience will be a mere footnote in the long and illustrious story of the most dominant team on Earth.

Just ignore the creaking from the basement.

That's the legions of the rugby world's undead stirring, but nothing to see here.

The appointment of a new coaching team sees the sun shine on the side, albeit through ominous clouds of concern which are brewing as NZ Rugby doggedly stick to a system of succession.

Media commentators warn of the rising damp, question the validity, the unresolved demons of a coaching past that still haunts the new coach. Others (me) dismiss these concerns, convinced that the good will win out, that history is not a predictor of the future, that people change, that the noise in the vault is nothing.

Sunny days await, the darkness will pass, will the barbarians at the gate be vanquished?

But before the forces of good could resist, the planet was plunged into a dystopian nightmare: The tyranny of Covid-19 was released. Rugby was struck down, the All Blacks' rise would play out in front of a foreboding backdrop.

In late-2020 the undead came back, clawing at the All Blacks, dragging them to their knees with consecutive defeats, the second to a malignant force that had yet to show its fangs: los Pumas.

Like a frog boiling to death in a pot of water, is the end is creeping? Have we even noticed?

The first round of the new threat abated. But a year down the track, still unsteady, still wounded, the ABs were attacked again, beaten by the zombie hoard from Africa.

Then swarmed by the undead from the northern wastelands, the All Blacks are dragged further into the mire by the Irish Banshee then mercilessly shredded by La Gargouille. Another back-to-back savaging from the reanimated ghouls of world rugby.

The terror is now very real. The team are not even safe in their own home, the Banshee returns and takes scalps in our backyard! Could the hero take another mauling? Will the shots continue to hit their target from all quarters, will every turn be met with barbarous savaging?

Every noise, every breathless gulp for air triggering cold sweats. Throat rasps. Breath quickens.
But the final scenes have yet to play out.

Will the All Blacks survive intact so they can rise triumphantly in the face of relentless assault?
It's a horror movie now, alright.

Will there be a triumphant hero, swinging the severed head of the beast by the hair? Or will our heroes' heads be swinging?

The denouement begins with the 2022 season; we'll have to wait til the 2023 Rugby World Cup for the final credits to roll.
Popcorn out, large coke primed, hiding behind the couch, how the hell is this horror show going to end?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/all-bl ... FQKQK4CGI/

[Uncle fester]

Look, we've already achieved enough on this tour for it to have been very worthwhile. I think an old sacrifice bunt in the last test, to give Foster enough of a bone to see him kept in a job, wouldn't be the worst outcome from an Irish POV.

We'll need to keep the optics reasonable though - nothing too obvious. Jonny taking a headknock after 20 mins or so and Joey coming on early ought to do it.

Was tempted to write something like this but trying to keep to a straight man persona here.

Whitelock back is huge. He was very badly missed in second test.

[redderneck]

Look, we've already achieved enough on this tour for it to have been very worthwhile. I think an old sacrifice bunt in the last test, to give Foster enough of a bone to see him kept in a job, wouldn't be the worst outcome from an Irish POV.

We'll need to keep the optics reasonable though - nothing too obvious. Jonny taking a headknock after 20 mins or so and Joey coming on early ought to do it.

Was tempted to write something like this but trying to keep to a straight man persona here.

Whitelock back is huge. He was very badly missed in second test.

Cannot overstate the difference I'd expect him to bring right enough. Him back, Savea not picking splinters out of his arse and wondering what he ever did to deserve the levels of comrade-foisted-fcukwittery which befell him last time out, and the game is a lot different.

[fishfoodie]

Look, we've already achieved enough on this tour for it to have been very worthwhile. I think an old sacrifice bunt in the last test, to give Foster enough of a bone to see him kept in a job, wouldn't be the worst outcome from an Irish POV.

We'll need to keep the optics reasonable though - nothing too obvious. Jonny taking a headknock after 20 mins or so and Joey coming on early ought to do it.

Fuck.

3D Chess dude

[Guy Smiley]

There’s massive pressure on the team and coach, there have been quite a few articles that I’ve seen seriously questioning the direction the team and coach have taken…

Another one today...

Jesus Mary and Joseph, you've got to be good to write something that bad.

[Grandpa]

There’s massive pressure on the team and coach, there have been quite a few articles that I’ve seen seriously questioning the direction the team and coach have taken…

Another one today...

Jesus Mary and Joseph, you've got to be good to write something that bad.

I'm assuming The Herald doesn't have money for a proof reader?

[Guy Smiley]

They wouldn't be too concerned with a mere formality like a proofreader, they've got ads to sell.

The state of the media in this country....

[convoluted]

Stuff reports today that Irish coach Farrell is urging his side to 'bring a bit of chaos' to disrupt the All Blacks game plan.

A reader commented:
Shocked and appalled that Farrell thinks the Irish coach is needed to bring chaos to the ABs.
Arrogance!

[Ymx]

Indeed. The fool. Fosters strategy “is” unpredictable chaos.
Sure it didn’t work last week, but it’s the last thing the Irish will be expecting when we bring it again, and without their help.

[Guy Smiley]

[fishfoodie]

"Never mind Boys, we beat them in the Cricket !"

[Guy Smiley]

Yeah!!

In their own backyard, too.

Hah

[OomStruisbaai]

"Never mind Boys, we beat them in the Cricket !"

Fuck the Canterbury dose.

[Kiwias]

S Barrett out now with Akira starting at 6 and Vaa'i onto the bench. I sincerely hope Akira has his best game in black

[convoluted]

^^^ AKIRA !!!!

Cometh the hour;
cometh the man.

[Torquemada 1420]

S Barrett out now with Akira starting at 6 and Vaa'i onto the bench. I sincerely hope Akira has his best game in black

NZ's chance of a red card just dropped 50%.

[Ymx]

Why do I feel even after last week, we are chasing a new low today.

Is first home series loss ever to Ireland, and to anyone for xxyy years bad enough?

Me thinks Foster will find another new low to hit. Biggest loss ever by the ABs??

[convoluted]

5 minutes ...

Can't quite ascertain if this feeling I have is a sense of anticipation or of dread.

[Torquemada 1420]

5 minutes ...

Can't quite ascertain if this feeling I have is a sense of anticipation or of dread.

Welcome to how the rest of us normally feel.

[Ymx]

Dreadful NZ anthem with a keyboard

[Torquemada 1420]

No "we think you are sh*t" haka this time then.

[Chilli]

I hope that the Altrad All Blacks moer the Irish.

[Torquemada 1420]

I hope that the Altrad All Blacks moer the Irish.

Yours

[Kiwias]

We're fucked

[ASMO]

Another dominant start by Ireland

[convoluted]

Utter disbelief.
If the Smith box kick doesn't work at the start of the first two tests, then maybe the same thing will be bang on the third time!!

[Slick]

We're fucked

Ireland look absolutely convinced they have this