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Kiwis in Europe: European glory for former Blues

Isa Nacewa and Gareth Anscombe are the toast of Leinster and Cardiff Blues respectively.

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The New Zealanders kicked late clutch penalty goals for their clubs as they clinched European Cup glory on the weekend.

The 35-year-old Nacewa is in the last few days of his long and successful career, and won his fourth European Champions Cup winners’ medal with the Irish province after slotting two late penalty goals as Leinster edged Racing-Metro 15-12 in the decider in Bilbao.

Captaining the side, Nacewa assumed the kicking duties from Jonny Sexton and landed a nerveless, angled penalty in the 74th minute before nailing the rather easier 79th minute three points for the win in a tryless season climax. It was not Nacewa’s best game on the left wing – he put two attacking kicks out on the full as he does not have a left foot – but he was otherwise solid under the high ball and ran for 49m.

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The selection of halfback Jamison Gibson-Park and former Wallaby flanker Scott Fardy in the Leinster match-day squad meant there was no room for James Lowe due to the foreign player quota. Gibson-Park had a strong 20-minute cameo with his passing, sniping and box kicking.

Racing-Metro lost Dan Carter to a hamstring strain in the warm-up. Joe Rokocoko made a brief appearance off the bench as an HIA sub, while former Waikato and Manu Samoa hooker Ole Avei and former Taranaki and Manu Samoa prop Census Johnston, now 37, both entered the fray in the second spell for Racing-Metro.

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The game itself never reached any great heights, other than the height of the tackles, which referee Wayne Barnes was swift to penalise.

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Nacewa was unconcerned, describing the occasion as “a magical day”.

“I wish I could be back to put a fifth star on the shirt… there’s a great crew involved now. We’ve taken a step tonight, so let’s build on that.”

Anscombe’s wide-angled and long range 79th minute penalty goal sealed Cardiff Blues’ remarkable 31-30 win over Gloucester some 24 hours earlier at the same venue in the European Challenge Cup final. The former Auckland, Chiefs and Blues pivot, who was named during the week for Wales’ June tour of the Americas, wore the No 15 jersey but was often operating at first receiver for Cardiff. His skill and centre kick set up halfback Tomos Williams for his try.

No 8 Nick Williams made several telling tackles and carries, while 41-year-old prop Taufa’ao Filise got through 40 minutes of work. The midfield combination of Willis Halaholo and Rey Lee-Lo was effective, though the former was guilty of grassing two balls.

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Gloucester led at the break and looked dangerous early on the counter-attack, but it was not to be for the New Zealand contingent of fullback Jason Woodward, wing Tom Marshall, props John Afoa and Josh Hohneck, and replacement forwards Motu Matu’u and Jeremy Thrush.

This weekend sees the semifinals of both the Aviva Premiership and the Guinness PRO14 – in which Leinster host Irish rivals Munster – while the French Top 14 moves into ‘les barrages”, the playoffs to go into the semifinals.

In other news:

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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