Tag: Dan Carter

Below Par All Blacks Barely Avoid Scotland Defeat

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Question marks remain over a host of fringe All Blacks players after a disappointing performance against a brave Scotland side at Murrayfield on the weekend.  Barring a couple of stunt performances from Jeremy Thrush and Charles Piutau, the back-up group failed to take the opportunity to press their claims for starting spots against Wales next week, or longer term, spots in the 2015 World Cup squad.  The skittish effort was full of rust; untidiness; and confusion, and despite assurances from coach Steven Hansen that the side needed a hotly contested match, will have damaged the reputations of some of the All Blacks also-rans.

TJ Peranara, Ryan Crotty, Dominic Bird all failed to shine, and the increasingly fragile Dan Carter returned to action with plenty of kinks that need to be ironed out.   As a result of individual frailties and team inaccuracy, the All Blacks only scraped past the determined Scots, eventually eking out a 24-16 win.  Tries to forwards Victor Vito and Thrush helped the All Blacks cancel out a Tommy Seymour intercept try that had stirred a passionate Murrayfield crowd into daring to believe in a first ever win against the All Blacks.

For all the heart of the Scotland side, there didn’t appear to be a huge chance of upsetting the All Blacks.  The All Blacks superior territorial game near the end, in addition to their powerful bench, meant they were always likely to overpower the improving Scottish side.  They deserve credit, however, for coming within ten points of the All Blacks for the first time since 1991, and unearthing a couple of future stars in the locking Gray brothers; Sean Lamont’s cameo was encouraging too.

The one regret for Scotland will be reliable captain Greg Laidlaw’s penalty miss that would have pushed them in front of, and heaped pressure on, the All Blacks with ten minutes to go.  The attempt sailed wide and with it the chances of an unexpected win.

Attempting to go one better than the strong Scotland effort this weekend will be Wales at Millennium Stadium.  To do so Wales will need to find an extra gear from the one they traditionally use against the Southern Hemisphere sides.  We’ll preview that match later this week.

All Blacks Change Plenty in Bid to Remain Perfect

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The All Backs have never lost to Scotland.  In 109 long years the brave Scottish are yet to break a duck that is beginning to resemble one of the most one-sided bi-lateral match ups in history.  Saturday’s Murrayfield encounter is the latest stanza in the meetings between the countries, and is a return to Scotland’s last resemblance of success against the All Blacks; a 23-23 draw in 1983.

However, the 2014 version shapes as an intriguing matchup between consistency and rotation.  The All Blacks escaped an England scare last week to reaffirm their position as World Cup favourites, and have made 13 changes to that side in an almost unrecognisable line-up.  Whereas, a much improved Scotland side dismantled a capable Argentinian side, scoring five tries in the process for the first time in a test in six years, and have made zero changes from that team.

The 13 changes made by Steve Hansen is the greatest number of changes he has made to a side from week to week in his tenure.  To an extent, that puts Scotland in the same vein as the USA, and opens the All Blacks up to complacency wobbles.  Leaving names such as Conrad Smith, Israel Dagg, Sonny Bill Williams, Julian Savea, Jerome Kaino, and Kieran Read have had many pundits questioning whether Hansen is treating the game with the requisite respect.  Complacency though, as a word, doesn’t exist in the All Blacks psyche, the team are too well organised and drilled to allow laziness to creep in.  Combine that with the depth in the All Blacks training squad and the versatility of a number of their players and the changes should have a minimal material impact to their performance.

Looking to exploit any potential All Black uncertainty is a Scotland side that under a new leadership group of captain Greig Laidlaw and coach Vern Cotter have drastically altered their game plan.  Last week’s effort was full of vigour and attacking intent, words that  much like the All Blacks example above, are rarely associated with Scotland.  Scotland looked dangerous with ball in hand throughout will look to tap into Cotter’s knowledge of All Black rugby or at the very least the absence of fear he brings to the environment.

Daniel Carter’s return to the All Blacks fold is an interesting aside to the main event.  That’s because even with three World class first fives (maybe four, if you count Colin Slade), the All Blacks are yet to settle on their number one option; durability concerns remain over Carter, and Barrett and Cruden have the goal-kicking yips.

With plenty of changes the All Blacks are obviously confident they can remain perfect against the Scots.  By no means however, does that mean it will be easy.  I’m picking the All Blacks by 16 in a scrappy match.

The Odds

New Zealand $1.04

Scotland $12.00

Odds courtesy of Sportingbet Australia.

The Teams

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain); 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Rob Harley, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Adam Ashe.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont.

All Blacks: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Colin Slade, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Dan Carter, 9 TJ Perenara; 1 Joe Moody, 2 James Parsons, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 5 Dominic Bird, 6 Richie McCaw (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 8 Victor Vito.

Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Augustine Pulu, 22 Sonny Bill Williams, 23 Julian Savea.