All Black World Cup Exits
I knew the All Blacks were going to win on Sunday night. Not because I thought they were a better team than Argentina or because of the squad we had playing, the belief the team had in themselves or anything like that at all.
I knew the All Blacks would win on Sunday night because they weren’t playing a Fullback at Centre. The last three times we’ve been knocked out of a Rugby World Cup we’ve been so arrogant and confident in our teams abilities, that rather than put the guy we selected in the 30 man squad to back up our incumbent centre, the All Black coaches chickened out and stuck their Fullback there instead.
Remember how they put Mills there against France in 2007? Apparently Ted whispered “13″ in Mills’ ear at training a few days before and he was super excited because he hadn’t played a test match there in ages! How did that work out for us again?
Remember 2003 when we gave Leon McDonald a crack there when Tana was injured? How about when we gave Cullen a crack there in 99? He was a great Fullback, surely Centre couldn’t be THAT different right? WRONG!
We’re so lucky to have such a brilliant Centre pairing in Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith. Let’s hope they remain fit for the minutes the All Blacks have left in this Rugby World Cup.
The only man playing out of position on Sunday night was Sonny Bill Williams. And while I wasn’t overly impressed by the decision to put him out on the wing, he couldn’t do TOO much wrong out there right? He only let Argentina’s only try in…
Let’s not play guys out of position again shall we? i.e. YES Piri seems like he can do no wrong at the moment but let’s snap back to reality for JUST a moment, he is a half back, let’s leave five eighth to the specialists.
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Yes, SBW let in the Argies’ only try. He is no superstar. Merely a very average international and a winger of last resort only. Let’s hope he is not needed for the semi and final.
I’m more concerned about Donald taking the field to be honest! God help him if he needlessly kicks away posession. In fact I don’t want to see him kick ANYTHING fullstop! Pass the ball, tackle and OCCASIONALLY hit the line but not EVERY time, they catch onto that pretty quick.
ALSO, I noticed on some replay footage last night, SBW was also responsible for letting in that soft try from France when they took a quick penalty while the ref was talking to half the All Black team. SBW was well positioned to make the tackle but completely fell off it, pretty poor. My biggest concerns are him or Donald messing this World Cup up for us now.