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Elliott Smith with me as always Liam Napier.

Liam.

Another big weekends in rugby and we'll get to the shield a bit later on.

That was the most important result of the weekend.

Sides that they happen, No, no, no, we'll get a deep dive into that a bit later on.

Don't worry about that.

The Black Ferns beating Ireland as well in a very impressive result.

Australia beats Argentina.

But we are here to discuss primarily the All Blacks and spring Box and the All Blacks twenty four to seventeen winners over the Box.

Leam in a weird way, like it feels like Christmas is It's like a few days after Christmas where you're sort of lying on the couch the things have been and gone, you sort of you play with the new toys and there's a bit of a coumdown.

We still have another test match to go this weekend, which we'll get up for a few days.

But everything was building to that test match at Eden Park on the weekend.

Did it deliver?

It's a good analogy that.

I haven't got my sweatpants on and don't quite need a nap.

But the Boxing day test to watch either.

But the comedown is accurate, wasn't it.

That was just the hype, the anticipation, the build up, all eyes trains fixed on Eden Park.

It really was an occasion to savor and I think it did largely deliver.

I can't remember certainly in recent times a comparable atmosphere New Zealand context.

Eden Park was buzzing, you know.

Three hours before the match.

I was driving in from the North Shore and bus stops are packed with South African fans.

As soon as the gates open, South African fans are flooding through.

It was probably eighty twenty seventy thirty.

There were a lot of South Africans, a lot of people making gags about if you're going to raid.

The north Shore.

That was the night to do it, and the match itself, look I had a bit of everything.

The All Blacks pulled away to fourteen point leads, but couldn't put the box to beds some late drama, Ardie Severe stands up and the All Blacks prevailed to preserve Eden Park.

When the euphoria dies down and the satisfaction for the All Blacks and the soreness subsides, the spectacle itself wasn't amazing, but because of the context of the match, the intensity of it, it really did grip you.

It did, and that all plays into it, doesn't it.

You look back in a couple of days on and the Test match may not seem as good as you thought in the moment.

There were errors that a lot of errors in the game from both sides, but when you're swept up in that eighty minutes plus of rugby, that doesn't matter because it delivered in all facets.

Let's break it down a little bit.

Great start from the All Blacks and ninety seconds Indy another way slides through Willie LaRue's legs, but a greasy surface gets up and goes throws the dummy scores in the right wing corner.

The All Backs couldn't have dreamed for a better start, and that sort of set the tone that they could play in front for the rest of the match.

Well, the first two tries are real ticks for the All Blacks because set piece moves.

The first is Jason Holland it's come from a line out and Finlay Christie's at first receiver Bowden bar it's a bit wider, allowing him more time and space for that crossfield kick.

It wasn't perfect.

Ammonia Nadawa did really well to first of all catch it, and then it was Willie LaRue.

Wasn't it over read it a little bit and he sort of went under his legs fireman escape and the dummy to the line.

And then the second one another line out move which as Bryan Evans, there were at least two fake jumps.

They go along to Wallace a tit and the inside ball to will Jordan's.

So two set piece moves that the All Blacks have pulled out of the pocket and executed to perfection to have that brilliant start.

So there's been a bit of a bit of criticism this year over the All Blacks attack, and rightly so, and I think there's still question marks over how the back line's functioning.

But those were two massive ticks.

They were and the All Blacks scoring in the second spell through Quint and Pie and they scored three tries.

It's hard to remember them having too many more opportunities than that.

A lot of the talk has been about the All Blacks not icing their opportunities on Saturday night.

They didn't get many opportunities, but you'd have to say they've probably iced the three that they did get on the night they did.

And I think another big tick there for Quinn to Pie.

He was only on the field for a short space of time while Jordi Barrett was having his HIA assessment.

Maybe we'll touch on that in terms of the mouthguard readings at some point, but Quinn when he was on the field really did straighten the point of attack and it's something that I don't think we've seen enough of from Jordi Barrett this year that by no means was a straight running for Quinn.

Here to be at least two defenders popped off as his foots, there's a step and he broke another tackle.

So that should have been the decisive score for the All Blacks put them up for a second time in the second half by fourteen points, but it was anything but a clinical finish.

They really did leave the door ajar for the Box to come back in a number of regards.

They had the massive pushover scrum which led to Quaker Smith the box first try.

There were was at least I think two penalties from dupless Carefi which put the All Blacks on their own line.

Then Ardie Severe gets that massive turnover and then the All Blacks are preparing to kick the ball out to finish the match and the Box get another turnover.

So it was high stakes drama.

The match report almost went out the window.

Everyone's on the edge of their seats.

They didn't make it an easy watch to finish the day.

No, they didn't, and that's perhaps we'll get onto the scrums as well, but that would be the one frustration is that they had those fourteen point leads and weren't able to put a bit more scoreboard pressure on and build that lead they didn't get.

As I said before, I don't think they've got a great number of opportunities in that game.

But if they could extend out to seventeen you can then begin to play a little bit freer with that justification that you've built up that two converted tries plus lead and they just weren't able to get to that margin, be it through through penalty goals, dropped on whatever it might bean, just to really put that pressure, because fourteen points sounds like a lot, really isn't.

You could cut that to seven and you get some momentor back like South Africa did on the night, then do you become the team under pressure trying to hold onto that lead.

And the All Blacks had to play through that and they managed to close out the game despite all of that, which I suppose if you look at it as a positive, you can you can give it a tick.

They did, and I think one of the big wins for the All Blacks was defensively, and while they weren't clinical necessarily and the way they finished that game, there was enough composure there and their scrambling defense got them out of jail.

And defensively they put a lot of pressure on the spring box.

There's some really good things they did.

Simon Parker switching to blindside, that's one hundred percent his position and he really did not break bodies, but he brought a real physicality to his defense.

I think he led the tackle count with fifteen and the match tupou Vai and Scott Barrett's harrised Grant Williams all Day rattled him from a box kicking perspective, really put a lot of pressure on him.

That was another big win.

So defensively the All Blacks really stepped up because I remember they must forty tackles in their last match against the Pumas.

That was partly due to those three yellow cards.

But yeah, I think the context is important, isn't it, Because there's so much pressure on this All Black team.

You're coming off a defeat the biggest test of Scott Robertson's coaching career, the World champions coming to town, wanting to storm the fortress their first match.

They haven't won an Eton Park against the All Blacks in eighty eight years.

There was just so much on the line and if the All Blacks lose that match, the Wolves really do start to cave in.

So you cannot understate the importance of just winning that match.

No you can't, and that was the primary primary target of the night.

They managed to do that and we talked a bit about Jason Ryan.

We'll get on to some of the other intricacies of the game in the moment, but it's now backing it up this weekend.

We'll look a bit Ford in a moment, but the challenge has now been laid down.

That's the not necessarily the standard of the All Blacks, but the sean they can deliver under pressure.

You've got to back it up and do it again.

You do and look, as with all every performances, things to improve.

The All Black set piece wasn't great.

That the lineout wobbled at times, and the scrum obviously there was that massive tight head which Jason Rhyme put down to Tyrol Lomax losing his footing and then massive eight man shoved from the spring box by There are other occasions where they were penalized as well, so the set piece always a massive battleground and the spring box lineout though that was even worse.

They lost a lot of ball there.

Malcolm Marx was penalized for decision whether it's throwing.

I think they lost another throw and Grant Williams spills one off the top, so it really was an error rutal performance from the spring Box and.

Also stylistically highly predictable.

Yes, very predictable, and the All Blacks forced the box into eras from individuals that we wouldn't usually see.

Hondre Pollard throws the ball into touched Damian de Lende.

I mean every play is culpable to a knock on.

I was susceptible to a knock on rather, but Delende made a couple of uncharacteristic errors.

Grant Williams, who is I think very very good halfback, was put under a lot of pressure, didn't respond very well, probably one of his worst Test matches, and so they were predictable.

But the All Blacks also forced some of those errors out of their game, and I think for the spring Box they missed having Malcolm Marx come off the bench in the closing stages of a Test match, which is where by and large he's played the majority of his Test career, at least in the last five or so years.

Gambanambi usually starts in that two Juesday, Marx comes off of the bench and it's part of that bomb squad with Bogie staying behind.

With some personal reasons.

In South Africa, Marx gets elevated to the run on side.

Jan Hendrix's vessels didn't seem to have a lot of confidence and him only came on with twelve minutes to go.

But I think I missed that bomb squad to an extent on the weekend, and they were rather patchy in the way that they utilized their subs.

So I mean recording this mid afternoon, sorry, at midday on a Monday, Russy's pulled his team announcement forward to Monday night.

I would suspect that we'll see some of those individuals that struggled on Saturday night changed out.

But I would also suspect we'll see maybe a six to two, if not a seven to one bench comes Saturday night again.

Yeah, I think so.

It's very unrussy like to inject your props and hookers with ten fifteen minutes ago, isn't it.

They normally go straight after halftime.

So the composition of that bench was a surprise, and how he used as substitutions was different.

Russey also made it clear and the lead up to that game that to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand, you have to score twenty five twenty eight points and look, I'm gonna put it bluntly the way the Springboks played, They're not going to score that many points.

They needed to play more rugby.

Maybe if they were a bit more clinical and their set piece element with the line out, that they could have collected a bit more points.

Andre Polla miss his first shot at goal this year off the tee, but they scored their first try through Quager Smith deep into the second half.

I just think they need to bring a bit more, you know, that midfield lifting more.

I don't even know what to call that.

Yeah, the midfield line out sort of thing.

Girl Black shut that down.

That that was the only real piece of innovation, if you want to call it, that surprise element that the spring Box tried to bring.

I think they need to do more to score that amount of points to beat the All Blacks at home, don't they they do?

I saw this morning and it was well telegraphed.

It's brett Igo.

I think it's he pronounced it Brett rug analyst on X put up the video of the All Blacks reading that, and there's a moment where Scott Barrett sees it happening to pop Va gets and also disrupts it.

But the All Blacks read that they saw it coming, they saw them positioning for it.

I suspect the Box won't try that again in Wellington.

No, you wouldn't think so.

And the other element is It's been a lot made of Tony Brown's presence in that Spring Bok camp.

Well I didn't see anything of Tony Brown's innovations in that performance.

Well, it was interesting.

Stephen Kittsoff spoke to our colleague Darcy Watergrave last week and he was asked about what role Tony Brown could have this week and he basically said that he suspected Russy was going to drown out whatever Tony Brown was suggesting this week.

They were going to play the type and they did.

And that's how The Box clearly want to play.

And it's hard to see them expanding too much for Wellington this weekend.

Yeah, I think they do need to be a bit more ambitious in the way they go about it, whether that's bringing on Sasha or Fussy, you know, going to some of these younger guys, because the other element to this performance is Russy needs to give these young guys some time because they're not going to be back in New Zealand for a couple at least a couple of years, and there is this question hanging over the Springbok team of regeneration and if you're not going to give these young guys the exposure and trust them, then then when on the flip sides.

We've talked a lot about there about the springbox style, what about the All Blacks because they weren't exactly hugely ambitious either, and conditions were tough.

It was wet, it was slippery, which made handling difficult, but at times it really was a box kickthon.

Yeah, and the All Blacks brought into that and they did say as during the week that that was probably the way that they were going to attack.

And look, do you chance your arm or do you just get into the fight and get into the trenches with the way that the opposition wants to play.

Probably the conditions that you said played a little bit of a part in that, but it was for at least the first sixty minutes the game very much played between the twenty between the twenty twos, excuse me from the Kresty Box gets Grant Williams returns fire and then when you get into a bit more of outfield play, Boten bout Andre Pollard.

The fifteens are going back and forth against each other.

It was a night for kicking.

I think it was about seventy combined kicks through the night.

It was well telegraphed.

I would like to see the All Blacks be a little bit more ambitious with that.

But their game plan on the night worked.

They got the win.

So it's hard for me, I think, to be a little to any sorry to be too critical of that, because they yes, they kind of adapted their game plan to suit, but they also beat it.

The from what's game plan Russia Rastlin's conceded post match that they were beaten in the aerial battle.

Now, fourteen days prior in Argentina and Buenos Aidres, the All Blacks had been well beaten in their aerial contest.

On Saturday night, they beat the Box in the aerial contest.

I think in that match, a win is a win and you take that anyway it comes.

But I think we are potentially seeing and stop me if I'm wrong here, But for me, raisor Robinson's Crusaders weren't overly ambitious either.

That they squeezed you, you know, when the pressure came on, they went to their set piece, they kicked their goals and yeah, there was some individual moments of brilliance from the lights of Richiemuwonga, but they weren't held to skelter, move the ball, throw it around.

Well no, you're right, they squeezed, put the pressure on and to go back to what I was saying earlier, that allowed them sometimes to build up those leads which allowed them to play a little bit more freer and change, you know, different different pictures for their back line.

Yeah, and just on that, here's some state that's in.

It's very Unall Black like.

Okay, so clean breaks in this tournament the Wallabies have twenty two, South Africa twenty Argentina, thirteen New Zealand six six six meters gained.

The All Blacks have seven hundred and the other three teams are in the one thousand and one one hundred and ninety plus defenders beaten.

The All Blacks are third as well, fifty nine compared to Argentina and Australia's eighty one.

So that really does speak to I guess the style that they're playing and partly the concerns that have been eared around the back line attack.

But should we be concerned.

Are those numbers alarming?

They are a little bit, But I'd hasten to add that, you know, South Africa, you wouldn't expect, you know, there's going to be a minimal number of line breaks per game.

Now they're very poor in as ideas, and that's where a lot of those numbers are contributed from.

Even in Qurdaba, they didn't quite get their game going.

So I suppose if you're two wins one loss from the tournament, you want to see more line breaks, but you want to see wins primarily, and if they're getting the points on the board in other ways, be it through those set plays and moves off.

The line out.

I just want to see wins from the All Blacks.

Spe quite on us.

Yeah, if they play an exceptional brand of attacking rugby, great, But primarily this team needs to win.

Yeah, I agree to an extent.

I think wins matter and test rugby right, and records matter, and coaching careers, playing careers are defined by results.

So first of almost one hundred percent, I think the All Blacks can, with the athletes they have, with the skills they have, play more, and that doesn't have to be erratic or outrageous.

But I just look at guys.

The All Blacks look really good when their forwards offload, you know, Wallace to tt to Mighty williams Ardie severe.

That second phase footy makes them really dangerous and I think they can counter more as well.

When there is that proliferation of kicking coming your way.

I think that does open up opportunities.

But yeah, I think there's an elements of the conditions of it being winter South Africa.

Very good defensively, they put a lot of pressure on the breakdown and I think missing cam Rugard as well as a big out.

But yeah, I would like to see the All Blacks play a wee bit more.

In some of those stets areund the carries, line breaks, a lot of them I'm suspecting would have come from that first game at Alice Park where it was really open thirty eight twenty two.

Off the top of my head, the box played expansively.

The Wallabies had to chase the game, therefore they were playing expansively.

So whether there's something in the stats that you know, suggest that maybe they're above the usual for this point of time in the Rugby Championship, I don't know, But maybe blowing out slightly from that game in particular.

Yes, that's aren't the beer or an end all.

They can be skewed, but I think it's very un All Black like to be at the bottom or ranked near the bottom of all of those.

We talked a bit about the scrums earlier.

Is that a worry for you that they were pinged?

You know, Carl Dixon obviously saw Ethan de Group was frustrated by some of the rulings when he was going up against Thomas de Toy, but the Toy had the better of him a couple of scrum penalties and then William's Lomax come on scrum probably goes backwards even further.

These are the two primary scrummages went fit for the All Blacks, and they just couldn't get it going on Saturday night.

I think it is a concern because, as you say, Tomighty Williams entire Lomax, the expectation was those guys would come on and lift the performance, lift the scrummaging, and that certainly didn't happen.

Maybe it's an element of playing a second string French team playing Argentina who have gone backwards in their scrummaging ability and coming up against probably the best scrummaging team in the world and not meeting that standard or interpretations, combination of all those things.

But it was Ethan the group talked to the Goal Sports breakfast, didn't he and he was talking about how the All Blacks have been scrummaging against ten men, so they certainly didn't lack the preparation.

Might need to make a twelve this week, yeah, call.

Us and to jump on the scrum machine.

But look, that's an area that they All Blacks pride themselves on and they will be hurt by their performance in that regard.

They will indeed anything through that add from the game itself on Saturday night and was great.

Oh mate, how good?

And for me that really speaks to the respect between the two and Test nations.

And I was reading comments on the Auckland Schools choir.

Aukland School specific a choir.

Yep, just South African anthem is probably my favorite in the world.

It's five languages and that was one of the best renditions I've ever heard.

And the praise from South Africans on social media about that speaks to how well it was done.

And also just the marker respect between the two rugby nations.

And I did read the comments about how in the Northern Hemisphere it's often just a instrumental and I remember you'd know that you were there.

In Ireland last year there was some issue with the New Zealand anthem.

I think they cut it after the.

Multi first.

Yeah, it was only half of it.

It's a very emotive thing, the anthem, and so that really did set the tone beautiful rendition and yeah, I think for what's to come we do it all again in Wellington this week.

How good?

Speaking of the all black side for this weekend, what changes are you picking?

I think there's a fairly obvious one in terms of Cody Taylor not being there, Sammasoni Takya, who will come in, Brody McAllister off the bench.

There's one change Jason Ryan described Murni Dandawah is highly unlikely.

We will not see him this sweek in So what do you do there?

Do you bring in Caleb Clark on the left wing?

Move Ricca Yuanni to the right is at least defying a Nuoku time.

What's your feeling at this point of the week.

It's hard with Caleb Clark because he's a specialist left winger, isn't he?

So I would have picked him last week?

Would I would definitely pick him this week.

He was good for Auckland again, he's had those two games.

He's your best aerial exponent.

You know that's where the box are going to come for you get him in there.

Personally, I don't want to see Seva Reese recalled.

I think that that's the easy option.

But you made the tough call to drop him.

I think he's a bit of a liability from a card point of view, is quite erratic in the way he buzzes about the fields.

I would love to see Lee were a car to get to go.

Yeah, I don't think they'll go that way.

I think they will potentially shift Rico to the right wing.

The other option is they finished the way they where they start the way they finished Saturday night, Damien McKenzie at fallback and Will Jordan on the wing.

But Will Jordan's not going great under the high ball, is he.

No, he's kind of off the last couple of games.

I know whether it's the escort rule that's maybe changed some of the way that he catches the ball, and whether he's struggling to adapt to that, but he's been off his game the last couple of Test matches for the All Blacks midfield.

You retain the starting midfield BROLLI drums still juries out for there were.

The crossfield kick in the twenty two was bizarre.

I'm not sure whether Will Jordan called for that or not, but that was a little odds.

He was serviceable on Saturday night, but again just I'm not sure whether he's the long term answer at thirteen is yet for the All Blacks.

Hasn't convinced yet, but I don't think you pull that leave for this game.

I would be very tempted to bring Lester Fining a Nooku in, but look, it'd be harsh on Quinta Pye for me, Lisa's pushing for a bench roll and I don't think he could drop Quinn on the impact he had off the bench.

So maybe Lester has to sit idle for the Wallabies.

Hard to see too many other changes.

The only other one is Noah Hotham.

Sounds like he is ahead of schedule.

He got through quite a bit of training in Auckland last week, so does he come on to the bench.

I think he comes onto the bench if he's fits.

It didn't sound positive for Cortez Ratima.

That may change in the next couple of days.

He was out training last week, but certainly sounded like nah Hotham was more likely than Ratama.

I think you stick with Christy for this week still what concerns about Christie's kicking, But I think it'd be a lot to ask Kotham to come in having not played a lot of rugby really since well Super rugby.

Apart from that twenty minute can be off the bench against France and Hamilton to start against the spring Box.

Christie did a serviceable job on Saturday night.

Don't think it's moved him into the top three rankings of half backs in the country, but I would stick with them for this weekend.

Yeah, I think so too.

And it's going to be a similar scene in Wellington.

I think rain likely, probably windy.

You can pretty much bank on that swirling one.

There'll be plenty of high ball kicks, so it's.

Just day ending and wife.

Well, Chris is going to be asked to replicate that sort of performance, isn't it.

The other point to note is how good was Tupo VI going back into Locke that he one hundred percent has to stay there that you can pare his performance on the blind side to lock the Poles apart.

Well.

I thought Scott Barrett was probably his best Test match of the season as well, and it felt like maybe just having two po Vi there helped.

On Saturday night, you know, Fabi in Holand I think he said a really good introduction to test rugby.

But that domination last year of Barret and Viae was the All Blacks first choice and I think they've now got back to that point.

I don't know what it means for Fabi and Holland, I'm not sure that bench is his role necessarily and a team we've seen what tweet be Lord you can do, so there's a question mark there.

But I wouldn't be tampering with that for the weekend.

And I thought Simon Parker clearly showed that he may well be I'm not calling it just yet, but may now be the answer to the All Blacks at blindside.

Yeah, early doors second test, but what that is the type of performance the All Blacks want from their blindside just really combative and what it does do is gives that loose trio the balance it needs yep, because you've got Wallace to Tito, who's your ball carrier, who's got great feet at the line.

He brings those offloads Artie severe allows him to potentially attack the breakdown.

It just frees those two guys up where Simon Parker's contesting defensive rucks, he's knocking over defenders.

He's making those hard ball carries, doing that grunt work.

That's what you want, and he was His presence was evident at the line out as well.

He's a big man.

So look, the All Blacks have been keen on him, haven't they this year?

And you're starting to see why.

And if you're going to put a performance like that and against the spring box, that is a real marker.

Indeed, right, we will take a break here on Rugby Direct.

Come back with the second half after this we have the black Ferns to talk about saying we have a shield changing hands, as well as a couple of other rugby matters.

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Let's talk to Black Ferns and Ireland.

Forty neil.

I was quite concerned about this game heading into it final game of the pool stages.

You lose this a very tricky quarter final in prospect, not saying South Africa won't be next week, but holy hecker, the Black Funds delivered forty nil against the team they lost to last year, and two of the players again that stood up weren't there last year.

Braxton signs and McGee scores a hat trick.

Georgia Miller again redefining what it means to be an open side flanker in men's or women's rugby.

I thought it was a top shelf performance from the Black Ferns as they head into the pointy end of this tournament.

It was they'll take a lot of confidence from that performance.

Island I think have a winning recent record against the Black Ferns, which you speaks to the level of preparation the Black Friends would have done going into that game, the homework where they would have been at mentally, and I think it showed Sylvia Brunt was superb again just to direct powerful ball carrying really gets the Black Funds on the front.

And I think we saw from the forward pack the level of commitments and physicality they're going to need later in this tournament as well.

So a surprising result, wasn't it.

Forty?

And then the nill is the impressive part.

And there was the impressive part as well, and they didn't have it easy in the first spell.

They had to really work.

I mean, Island had some great flashes in the opening ten minutes also, and we're right in the contest is I don't think it was as like Ireland playing badly.

It was the Black Ferns just delivering a really top shelf performance.

You look at some of the stats and I was looking through them earlier territory position forty nine to fifty one, that's, you know, bang on even territory Island fifty five Black Ferns forty four entries into the twenty two.

Island had seven didn't score obviously a single point.

The Black Fans had twelve, so it wasn't like they ran the ship for the entire game.

They'll put under pressure.

By Island and there was a lot to like from that performance as they head into playing South Africa next week in the quarters.

That's right, What about I guess the context of that tournaments.

Is anyone going to be able to stop England because they put a fair score on Australia.

Is at any sort of gauge of where they're at?

Yeah?

I think the Black fans performance this morning solidified that.

I believe they can if they get England on the right day, which would not be a good day for England because I still think they're the heavy and hot favorites for the tournament.

But I can see a path where the Black Fans might be able to win the tournament.

And I didn't see that earlier on the year, but I can potentially see a path now to the Black Fans winning the tournament.

Not saying they're going to, but I just think that Yep, England put on a score over the course of the weekend and you know, looking and really comfortable touch at home, but on a day the Black Fans might be able to tip them up.

Yeah.

I think so too, when you've got athletes and a brand of rugby that England perhaps aren't used to either.

I think the Black friends are.

They're clearly getting better a tournament team and you get to a one off knockout match as we saw Eden Park.

You know, anything, anything as possible, so you give you know, Brextons on some McGhee, Alicia, letting these sort of athletes a chance.

Yeah, they could knock them over on their day.

What do you make of the scheduling for the World Cup?

I think New Zealand's been dudded a little bit.

Second or third biggest rugby women's rugby market, not in terms of population numbers, but in terms of where the game sits in terms of interest levels.

And I get why, but it's been largely a UK friendly time zone.

Now, not asking for you because you know you think of the All Blacks and the times that they play out North, but you know that Island game this morning.

How many young school girls all boys for that matter, at one forty five am on a Monday morning and getting up and watching that.

Yeah, there are replays, but you connect to the game most when you see it live.

And if that was a Sunday morning at eight am New Zealand Times seven, a New Zealand time, you would have had a bigger audience.

You would have helped grow the game, which is what would Rugby adamant about.

I think they've kind of been sold up the reverend a little bit here.

Yeah, I don't think there's been any consideration whatsoever of that.

And the key point there is it doesn't make any difference for islands.

Yeah, you know with the tuning in at seven at night or two in the afternoon.

Yeah, it might be a better spectacle.

But you'd like to think you take those things into consideration when you're doing the scheduling, and clearly they haven't.

No, they haven't.

Topic number two smart Mouthguards.

They came to the four on Saturday night was at three Triggers of the smart Mouthguards.

We had Cody Taylor go off, will its a TD and Jordie Barrett went off then came back on whereabouts you sit on that?

We obviously you know last week the podcast touched on the very sad death of Shane Christy.

But for me, the smart smart Mouthguards almost seem like for show.

Are they actually if it's not been caught by an independent doctor on the sidelines, are they actually helping?

I think there's clearly still teething issues.

And look, it's hard because you can't sit back and criticize Rugby for not doing enough, and then criticize them for doing something to try and prevent head knocks or protect players.

But put yourself in a player's shoes.

If you're Jordi Barrett and Wallace a teas, you get dragged for ten minutes, you miss ten minutes of massive contest, and then you get back in so it's very stop, start, you get cold.

You'd be incredibly frustrated, right, So I think there's work to do around the threshold, around the accuracy, because not just players but coach would be incredibly frustrated to lose influential figures for a certain period of time.

It's quite chaotic, isn't it, Players coming on, coming off.

So I think there's real work to be done.

I don't know whether long term that's the way forward, because in a contest like that, when you've got such big humans coming together, there's always going to be massive collisions.

And that doesn't necessarily mean that there's been a head clash.

Yeah, to me, it seems like pseudo science isn't the word necessarily, but it feels like something that's been implemented perhaps before it's time to make people feel better and to feel people feel like there's been progress made on this matter.

Head injuries is obviously something you've got to take very very seriously, but there have been so many, as you said, and excuse the punt teething issues that I'm not sure that they are necessarily the answer, especially at the top level, and especially when you've got professional players using them compared to levels below that this is the best of the best playing it, I just don't know whether it's entirely suited to that.

Watch the space topic number three ran for the Shield, change his hands.

Anything you want to congratulate me on or adds to that.

Just demolishing Southland.

Pass me by.

Actually you wouldn't believe it?

Yeah, really, yeah it didn't, didn't hear.

I've got I've got a full replay home you can can cover around this afternoon or grab some popcorn and relive it.

I'm quite busy actually right.

Just dominant formance from Canterbury.

You know, Southland had has had a couple of great shield eras in the last fifteen or so years.

That will not be one of them.

But it's great to see the Shield on the move and Tasman's got a challenge this weekend in christ Church.

They lost to Auckland obviously yesterday they have they have been a bit hot and cold so far the season, tasm.

But again they will get up for the Shield Challenge this weekend and it should be absolute doozy and crush Church.

Yeah, it is good to see the Shield on the move, not necessarily to crush Church, but special massive special scenes in the cargo, you know, bagpipes playing crowd at the airports.

So it is great to see the love affair with with the logger Woods.

I don't know are their parades and crush Church it should be maybe you take it for granted or what's happening.

But it's just hard when you win so much you think of Super Rugby title obviously this year the Tactics winning the a Z Premiership.

You know, Chrussia City Council has only got a finite amount of money to pay for parades and it might have been blown out already.

So yeah, yeah, yeah, Well Paul Cully tells me, I think that otago of a challenge, so I'll just I'll be adopting the otago.

What's the nickname the Razorbacks.

Yes, I Canterbury defend it.

Then they defended against Otago the following weekend.

Dougle Okay topic number four Australia Argentina.

This was a great game Argentina.

I mean almost the proverbial game of two harbs.

Argentina very very good in the first bell couldn't quite recapture that.

After halftime Australia tightened up a little bit.

I felt played a little bit more direct after the break, paid dividends and grandstand finish.

It was a great game of rugby and you know, not much between it.

Argentina could have first sneaked the win, maybe even should have sneaked the win on the afternoon man.

Yeah, what a game.

And I guess we're a critical of the blackfurre and scheduling before, but this match speaks to afternoon forty does that?

And we talked about that game at Alice Park as well.

Played in sunshine.

This was in Townsville, sunbeaming down and the Pumas are a great team to watch.

They scored two brilliant tries offloading can phase pace that they have some exceptional talents in that back line in particular, they were all over the Wallabies in that first st half and then didn't really fire a shot on the second, gave away a string of penalties and you've just got to stand and applaud the decision at the end from Harry Wilson to put his balls on the line and go for the corner, go for the win when they could have easily just banked the draw, and to pull that out of the bag.

I think that really does speak to the transformation of the Wallabies where they're at with their self confidence, their belief to say no, we don't want to draw, we want the win.

And it's great for the Rape Championship as well.

It is it is on a knife edge and Australia a couple of weeks out from the Blitter's Low Cup obviously still got a argenty to plague in this weekend, but they'll get to even Park in a couple of weeks.

Being confident that you know they win.

That gives them a chance as they head to Perth of winning the Blitter's like Up for the first and twenty plus years.

That's right, and Joseph Sui Lee's best test performance.

He was great at Twickenham, I think on de Boos when he started there, but he scored two tries, his combination with Lenny Ektau really coming along Max Jorgensen.

What of talents?

The Wallabies have lost a lot of players and they don't have great depth, No, Tom writs Tom Liner started that game.

They made the change of James O'Connor.

But yeah, Joe Smith is doing a fantastic job and there was a lot of hype, wasn't there around Eden Park?

And the record wouldn't it be something if the Wallabies were the ones in there?

Streak?

Yeah, absolutely could well happen in a couple of weeks time.

Just before we go, You're bug bear.

The TMO barely saw them on Saturday Night, which was added to the spectacle all the occasion of the match.

So I just want to give a shout out there.

What about Carl Dixon.

There's been a fair bit of consternation from South African quarters around his performance.

What was your feeling.

I've been critical of Carl Dixon previously on the podcast.

I don't think he's previously had great feels and that's such an intangible thing, but great fields for Test matches technical refrae.

Yeah, I thought Saturday Night was probably his best Test match from what I saw yet he's always going to miss a couple of things.

Any referee will miss a couple of things.

But I thought that was his best test match just from keeping the game flowing, was confident in his own decisions.

In the commentary for News Talk ZB and gold Sport, I had Bret cronin in my ear the entire time and he was offering some advice to Dixon around placement on the field of penalties and scrums and various things, and he was sweeping through.

But he didn't interject himself overly into the game.

And I think that's what we wanted.

And we're not sitting well, maybe South African fans are, but we're not sitting here on a talking about the referee and his influence on a performance.

I thought that was in a big test match with a lot of scrutiny on it, that was about as good as you could hope for from a from a referee.

Yeah.

I think the biggest compliment you can give a referee is that you don't overly notice them, right.

They let the players take control of a contest.

That's what you want and the same for it from a TMO.

You don't want constant stoppages and reviews and unnecessary obtrusive officiating.

So yeah, I thought they got the balance right.

They did.

Nika Amishakelli from Georgia is the referee this weekend.

Who's not one of my favorites either.

So Carl Dixon heard Rugby Direct last week maybe and rose to the occasion.

Nieka, it's on you this weekend Saturday night.

Great food in Georgia, but referees, I think it's been elevated way too a lotter than he was.

We'll see.

We'll judge that next week.

Rugby directs done and dusted.

We might pop back in like we did last week for a we midweek chicken, but later on in the week once your black side is out to say, you can catch up with Russy Arrasthmas is the spring Box team on the New Zealand Herald website and across News Talk ZB and Gold Sport.

Once that is named at seven pm on Monday.

Fascinating to see what he goes with six two seven one eight zero.

What are you going?

He goes with five to.

Three, seven to one.

The Springboks have never lost with a seven to one bench.

There we go against the All Blacks I'm going six too.

Okay, if anyone's got any Brie or Bulltong recommendations and Wellington, it's only fitting, let us know.

It is it is fitting.

Yep, we'll absolutely do that.

Jamiel Wall was munching on bulltong right throughout that manute.

You can't go wrong with Billtong.

Delicious, delicious, wee morsels of food.

Yeah right, that'll do us.

Rugby Direct Power by Excess Solutions elevating you and your business to a hig Lee.

Well thanks to last In Viaz English as well for his production work.

We'll see you.

Later in the week.

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