Twickenham

[daiseyduke]

Well had a great weekend apart from the result but we played well so not to disappointed.

Left North Shields at 6.30 Sat morning bloody freezing. Stopped for breakfast half way and got to our digs 12.30. Dumped our bags and straight into a cab for Twickers.

£15 and 20 minutes later we were in the West car park heading for the Guiness stand to mingle with the upper class (we stood out a mile lol).
5 pints later and a bite to eat we headed to our seats only after about 6 p####s(due to the cold and not a weak bladder, cold makes you p##s like a race hosre).

Then the anthems got underway then that thing the All blacks call the Haka.

Game kicks off and we start well. All Blacks concede a penalty and the crowd cheer when Corry points to the touch line instead of the posts.
Lineout taken clean England are patient and then go over for the try.

The game was a very physical encounter and both teams were 110% committed.

Sloppy defense from England cost them 2 tries and probably the game.

The All Blacks played the last quater or so with 14 men due to yellow cards for professional cheating.(3 in total).

England threw everything at them but couldn\'t score.

The conclusion of the game is we competed not like Wales or Ireland who were embarrassing.

The All Blacks knew in no uncertain terms they were in a game and didnt have it all there own way.

After the final whistle made our way to the bar for a few more beers and then went for a curry.

The Taxi back to the digs was a storey, it was an Asian driver and he did not have a clue where he was or going and asked us for directions. Needless to say he didnt get paid the full amount lol.

Left early sunday morning and home for 1.30. A good weekend had by all.

Adam

[Davyred]

Saw the game Adam, cracking match.

[daiseyduke]

Yeah it was a cracker. Got to be hopeful for the 6 nations. France are quite strong at the moment, Dont think we\'ll get much bother off the rest though.

Got 18 months till the next world cup so we should improve in time hopefully.

[Charlton]

saw the highlights, twice, some rather dubious decisions, such as a very clear forward pass for an all blacks try. Ref certainly not accustomed to what goes on in the front row, how could he penalise England when the all blacks let go and went backwards on one side to wheel the scrum, thought they would try a few tricks. The three yellow cards tells a story, killing play when Engalnd where in full stride and giving them a pounding, after the second one, all for deliberate cheating, i would have gone for the red. Only thing isd for refs to cotton on to this type of play or England to do the same. We still need a creater behind the scrum, and i dont mean Wilkinson. Well that is how i saw the game after watching an hour of highlights, would have loved to have seen the whole game, no doubt would have picked out a few more misdemeanours

[Stores]

Perhaps one problem is that most refs are ex backs Alan. The number of times the All Blacks came into rucks from the side beggared belief. Similarly the last thing I wanted to learn, when a modestly poor stand off, was what was going on in the front row. I wanted them to collapse so they couldn\'t catch me lol

[Norman]

Great Report Adam .... LOL just wait till the fishing reports are as detailed

[daiseyduke]

The ref was terrible like you say coming in from the side not just once but was happening a lot, Umangas try was a forward pass cos the ref got in the way. Teams tend to run towards the ref to create the half gap. Corry played well but was messy at the base of the scrum.

The biggest worrying difference between the two teams was the All Blacks ability to pass the ball out of the tackle and support play came with pace from depth. New Zealand are awesome loose play masters and it was great to watch.

Englands 3/4 play to flat which is easy to defend andtheylacked flare.

Its also worrying when a player like Rockoco.ko comes of the bench and runs riot.

[Charlton]

If you dont stand in the way of the off the ball players the way the all blacks, australia and south africa do, just enough to put them off then most back lines will work not having their runs impeded. Even if they are not the best like Engalnds. Have noticed about the ref as well, the southern hemisphere tend to use him as an extra player, running behind him and away from the tackler, very clever.
It is very frighteneing though for a country to have two teams who are eqaul.

[daiseyduke]

I fear for Scotland next week Alan, doesnt matter which team NZ put out

[Charlton]

think its looking to be around sixty at least and thats only because they have only retained two of the players that played England.