WEBVTT - Mike Blair: All Blacks Assistant Coach reviews the performance against the Stormers

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine

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<v Speaker 1>from News Talks edb.

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<v Speaker 2>God Daddy about it's pick all Blacks after it scooped

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<v Speaker 2>up Josh Morby one handed back up in the left

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<v Speaker 2>wing border. This guy's class Josh Morby thirty three fourteen.

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<v Speaker 3>It was fourteen all after sixty seven minutes, but four

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<v Speaker 3>tries in the last thirteen minutes have inflated the scoreline

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<v Speaker 3>or Blacks assistant coach Mike Blair is with us. Thanks

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<v Speaker 3>for joining us, Mike. What's your overall assisement of game

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<v Speaker 3>one of the tour.

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<v Speaker 4>Nice to speak to you, obviously, we're really pleased to

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<v Speaker 4>get the win. We played some good stuff in there

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<v Speaker 4>and plenty to.

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<v Speaker 5>Work on as well. That the bit we loved about it.

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<v Speaker 5>There was some real resilience in there. So we went

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<v Speaker 5>down to thirteen men, still went in halftime at fourteen all,

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<v Speaker 5>and we kept a composure and took our opportunities later

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<v Speaker 5>on in the game.

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<v Speaker 4>But we're frustrated. Did a few of the missed.

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<v Speaker 5>Opportunities as well that on other days we could have

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<v Speaker 5>walked in but they didn't just quite click today.

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<v Speaker 3>Did you always feel as though you had the gas

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<v Speaker 3>in the tank to come over the top of them.

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<v Speaker 3>At the end, it was still fourteen or or thirteen

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<v Speaker 3>minutes to go, a real flurry of tries at the end.

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<v Speaker 3>Did you always feel as though you had that gas

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<v Speaker 3>in the tank.

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<v Speaker 5>I think we've got to understand that teams, that it

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<v Speaker 5>takes time to break teams down, and obviously we wouldn't

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<v Speaker 5>want to leave it that late every week. But the

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<v Speaker 5>fact that we did a lot of work, good work

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<v Speaker 5>in the first half with our with our multi phase,

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<v Speaker 5>stressed them a little bit, which meant that those opportunities

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<v Speaker 5>were taken later on in the game, and we've got good.

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<v Speaker 4>Athletes who can make the most of those opportunities.

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<v Speaker 3>Did you get what you expected from the Stormers?

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, they were impressive, weren't they. A number of excellent

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<v Speaker 5>performances from them. Thought Deon three was all over the place.

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<v Speaker 5>I thought I thought that ten he was playing in

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<v Speaker 5>one of his first pro games. I thought he looked

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<v Speaker 5>composed and obviously their their set piece was a real threat.

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<v Speaker 4>So yeah, they played a good game and a game

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<v Speaker 4>that we expect them to to play.

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<v Speaker 5>So some some positive stuff from us, but but definitely

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<v Speaker 5>some some stuff to walk on.

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<v Speaker 3>I know it's not necessarily your area, Mike, but the

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<v Speaker 3>scrums were were really massy, especially in the first half.

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<v Speaker 3>Any idea why that.

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<v Speaker 5>Was, what makes you think I don't knowing about scrums, unbelievable.

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<v Speaker 4>I used to be I used to be a scrum.

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<v Speaker 3>Half in that case, then I'm looking forward to your assessment.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, we we We've gone the wrong side of the

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<v Speaker 5>penalty kind I think one of the really pleasing things though,

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<v Speaker 5>was that, you know, the scrum in the last kind

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<v Speaker 5>of three.

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<v Speaker 4>Minutes of the game.

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<v Speaker 5>We've got a young, young set of props on and

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<v Speaker 5>we and we shunted Stormers off the ball, so that

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<v Speaker 5>that showed great resilience and they find a way obviously

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<v Speaker 5>around the scrum. There is some some work to do there,

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<v Speaker 5>but you know, we've got some great coaches.

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<v Speaker 4>You're going to do a good job with them.

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<v Speaker 3>He mentioned before. A couple of work on areas and

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<v Speaker 3>a bit of frustration around certain parts of the game.

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<v Speaker 3>Anything in particular that you'll be that you'll be focusing

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<v Speaker 3>on in the review.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I think we created opportunities and we've just got

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<v Speaker 5>to be really ruthless with those opportunities. And I think

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<v Speaker 5>we've probably left three or four tries out there that

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<v Speaker 5>on other days it's just you know, performing the basics well,

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<v Speaker 5>so you know there's a bit of rustiness as well there.

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<v Speaker 5>Guys haven't played in a in a reasonable amount of time,

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<v Speaker 5>so it'll be great that they've got that game under

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<v Speaker 5>their belts and we'll see improvement going ahead.

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<v Speaker 3>In the two, you had three yellow cards shown to

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<v Speaker 3>your players. Any issue with any of those.

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<v Speaker 4>Mike, I'm I'm not too sure to be honest.

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<v Speaker 5>I think we almost felt that we would rather have

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<v Speaker 5>given away the the try on that the storm is

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<v Speaker 5>more rather than getting the yellow card and another five

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<v Speaker 5>minute liner to defend. I think you know, when you

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<v Speaker 5>when you stay high and there's a bit of head contact,

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<v Speaker 5>you're always bringing the TMO into it. And I think

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<v Speaker 5>the last one with with Josh was was was touch

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<v Speaker 5>and go. I can see why it was given, but

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<v Speaker 5>it was you know, it was it could have gone

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<v Speaker 5>either way, I think.

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<v Speaker 4>On that one how it was ruled. So no, no

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<v Speaker 4>real issues with that.

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<v Speaker 5>We've we've got to look after our own stuff and we've

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<v Speaker 5>got to be squeaky clean there to not give the

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<v Speaker 5>opportunity to penalize us for that from now.

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<v Speaker 3>Then it's quite a unique challenge, isn't it for the

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<v Speaker 3>coaching group, in terms of the fact that you now

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<v Speaker 3>need to prepare an almost entirely different group of players

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<v Speaker 3>for Phoenix Challenge or what sort of challenge will that

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<v Speaker 3>present to you?

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah, things things speed up now for sure, and you

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<v Speaker 5>know the work rate's going to be where the workload's

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<v Speaker 5>going to be be high for the players and the

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<v Speaker 5>coaches as well. So we just got to be really

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<v Speaker 5>sharp around our reviews, our previews of what's coming. You know,

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<v Speaker 5>we've got some excellent players, so their ability to pick

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<v Speaker 5>up information and.

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<v Speaker 4>Take that on and apply it should be really good.

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<v Speaker 5>So it's a very challenging and when we're really looking

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<v Speaker 5>forward to taking.

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<v Speaker 3>On I know that there was never any doubt, but

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<v Speaker 3>did today confirm that this is going to be a

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<v Speaker 3>heck of a tour?

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<v Speaker 4>Absolutely.

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<v Speaker 5>It was a brilliant atmosphere here, really competitive game, really

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<v Speaker 5>physical game, and you know we've got another one coming

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<v Speaker 5>up on Tuesday.

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<v Speaker 3>My congrats on getting the first one on the board.

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<v Speaker 3>Appreciate you taking the time for a chat.

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<v Speaker 4>Awesome, thanks mate, No, thank you.

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<v Speaker 3>Mike. Mike Blair, All Blacks attack coach, out of Cape Town,

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<v Speaker 3>where the All Blacks have kicked off the greatest rivalry

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<v Speaker 3>tour with the thirty eight to twenty one went over

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<v Speaker 3>the Stormers. It looked like a side that hadn't played

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<v Speaker 3>together very often, containing several players who haven't played any

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<v Speaker 3>rugby for a while, which, of course it was. It

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<v Speaker 3>was good to get the win to start the tour off,

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<v Speaker 3>even if it did need that late flurry of tries

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<v Speaker 3>to get the All Blacks across the line. Good to

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<v Speaker 3>give some guys some rugby, good to add a couple

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<v Speaker 3>more debutantes. But if there was any out about how

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<v Speaker 3>tough this tour is going to be, and I don't

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<v Speaker 3>think there was any doubt, but if there was, it

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<v Speaker 3>was well and truly dispelled today and there is plenty

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<v Speaker 3>to work on as the All Blacks now plot the

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<v Speaker 3>rest of this tour, starting with the Sharks in Durban

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<v Speaker 3>on Wednesday morning Tuesday night over there areas of particular focus.

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<v Speaker 3>I've got four main ones. Number one the aerial ball,

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<v Speaker 3>it is still an area of concern for the All

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<v Speaker 3>Blacks and one which will absolutely without a doubt be

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<v Speaker 3>targeted by the South African teams. Spring Box in particular

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<v Speaker 3>for whatever reason, we just can't seem to effectively and

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<v Speaker 3>consistently diffuse aerial threats. And when a kick goes up

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<v Speaker 3>and one of our players goes up to get it

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<v Speaker 3>and doesn't, the rebound almost always seems to go to

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<v Speaker 3>the opposition. So the battle in the air Number one,

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<v Speaker 3>Number two the scrum look, most of us don't have

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<v Speaker 3>the depth of knowledge to know what goes on in

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<v Speaker 3>there in minute detail. But they were a bit of

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<v Speaker 3>a mess, weren't they. We were penalized a lot at

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<v Speaker 3>scrum time, and the Stormers showed plenty of power, which

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<v Speaker 3>all of the South African teams will over the next

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<v Speaker 3>six weeks, not least of all the spring box. Number

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<v Speaker 3>three more defense. The Stormers put pressure on from the

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<v Speaker 3>lineouts close to the All Blacks line. The spring Box

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<v Speaker 3>will do exactly the same, so giving away penalties which

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<v Speaker 3>allow the opposition to kick for the line and set

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<v Speaker 3>up for a driver, something that just can't be afforded

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<v Speaker 3>by the All Blacks. And number four discipline three yellow carts.

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<v Speaker 3>I thought the first one was questionable. Actually, Antonine Brown

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<v Speaker 3>makes contact as he goes into the tackle with the

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<v Speaker 3>upper chest first, and then it kind of slides up

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<v Speaker 3>and makes contact with the head. Simon Parker, Josh Moreby

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<v Speaker 3>also spending time in the bin. Look, it's hard enough

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<v Speaker 3>to win in South Africa with fifteen guys. You can't

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<v Speaker 3>be going to add to fourteen for large periods or

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<v Speaker 3>thirteen as was the case for a while in this one.

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<v Speaker 3>And on the discipline side of things, sixteen penalties conceded,

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<v Speaker 3>including five in a row in the second half. So

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<v Speaker 3>as they depart Cape Town for Durban and the Sharks

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<v Speaker 3>Wednesday morning out time, there is a bit to chew over,

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<v Speaker 3>plenty of room for improvement. Thankfully, I firmly believe the

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<v Speaker 3>capacity for that improvement is there and the side that

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<v Speaker 3>runs out against the Sharks on Wednesday morning will be

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<v Speaker 3>demonstrably different to what we saw this morning. A lot

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<v Speaker 3>of cobwebs shaken off this morning. It felt to me

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<v Speaker 3>by players, as I say, who haven't had a heck

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<v Speaker 3>of a lot of rugby. Look at guys like Simon Parker,

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<v Speaker 3>Bowden Barrett, they hadn't played it all in July. The

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<v Speaker 3>last time those guys played was the back end of

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<v Speaker 3>Super Rugby. Boteen Barrett hasn't a game for a couple

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<v Speaker 3>of months. Others in the same boat. L Preston didn't

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<v Speaker 3>get any rugby during July, he got out there. Josh

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<v Speaker 3>Jacob on debut. C ALILAWAKEI on debut. Combinations in the

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<v Speaker 3>loose forwards and in midfield that haven't been used often,

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<v Speaker 3>so there was always going to be a bit of clunkiness.

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<v Speaker 1>For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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<v Speaker 1>to News Talk Set B weekends from midday, or follow

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast on iHeartRadio.