Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:28 am  

26 12 up with only 7 mins left.

Good sign for upcoming test series.

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:44 am  

New Zealand’s victory against Australia has made our series against the Kiwis more appealing.

Australia look very beatable with the changing of the guard, a shame we’re not playing them this year. Looking forward to Tonga v Australia next week, Tonga have a great side, when was the last time Australia lost back to back games?

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:56 am  

Nearly put the lockers in that!

26 to 24 a kiwi victory but proves that you have to play the full 80 mins against the Aussies.

Mental weakness in the kiwis?

Like us can they hold leads in tight games.

We will soon see.

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:14 am  

A good overall performance from the kiwis, they have a very strong pack and some real world class in Johnson and Manu and DWZ. On paper, they should be too good for England over 3 matches but as we saw towards the end there, they are prone to switching off and have some mental weaknesses when under real pressure.

I can't wait for the series. England will need to be creative to score points since Marsters and Manu are excellent defensive centres. I think Tomkins needs to be at 1, he has the guile to undo them out wide from the back of a block, I think Ratchford would be eaten up by their edge defence quite easily.

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:17 am  

Also, this could be the start of something good with the new-look aussie team getting turned over at the first time of asking. There will be some question marks on them now from the aussie media and a bit of pressure. If we can catch them on a downward curve and prevent this group gaining the invincibility complex their predecessors had, it might level the playing field internationally between the top 3 teams.

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:23 am  

Given the players we have missing, NZ are definitely big favourites for our series.
I worry about our lack of physicality in the backs, and we don't have any controlling HBs in the squad.

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:10 am  

TheUnassumingBadger wrote:

Also, this could be the start of something good with the new-look aussie team getting turned over at the first time of asking. There will be some question marks on them now from the aussie media and a bit of pressure. If we can catch them on a downward curve and prevent this group gaining the invincibility complex their predecessors had, it might level the playing field internationally between the top 3 teams.

Top 3. Is that Australia, Tonga and England or Australia, Tonga and New Zealand?

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:14 am  

Tonga don't come into the equation at all.

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 1:35 pm  

Willzay wrote:

Tonga don't come into the equation at all.

Already beaten NZ in the WC, desperately close against England and a real chance against Aus next week. Let's see what you're saying this time next week.

Re: Kiwis looking good : Sat Oct 13, 2018 3:50 pm  

I’d put my mortgage on Australia beating Tonga a couple of good results in the World Cup doesn’t mean anything there the fourth best team in the world same as Fiji were a few years back