A lot to talk about from that game and series, some very good some poor.
First up, NZ. Terrible all tournament. a huge shame that England couldn't put it together in game 1 and finish them off, I feel like England would have given us a much better run for our money today.
New Zealand issues galore
- coach looks out of his depth and as a result the side looks flat and lacking in every aspect.
- only 1 worthwhile half in the entire squad, Leuluai and TMM are simply not good enough to take the pressure off SJ or add anything in attack. SJ was mostly poor but it's hard to expect miracles with such poor support.
- deadwood: Lewis Brown, SKD, at least. Some others are aging or just not international quality footballers.
They need a huge improvement to even have a shot of making the WC final.
England fell short this time, but will likely take some big strides with a another year under Bennett, and will be putting out their best side in decades for the WC. Can NZ even match them?
Australia look rejuvenated. Any hopes of them having an old, stale side next year are gone. Whatever Meninga is doing is working wonders, the forward pack is filled with exciting, youthful players. Very hard to see them not taking out next year. And for me at least, they're a much more likeable, exciting side than they were 2 years ago. I enjoyed watching the Kiwis pound them in 2014 but anything less than a big win today would have been disappointing.
Scotland beating NZ was the biggest positive of the tournament. Hopefully it's followed up by some real development work - noises out of Scotland are encouraging. Will be relishing the chance to have another crack at the big boys next year and in the next 5-10 we might see some true Scotsmen and if all goes well an entry into League One.
The tournament as a whole - meh.
Had it's moments but NZ and England were poor. The scheduling left a lot to be desired. Scotland should have played Aus and NZ in Scotland, and Aus and NZ should have played their first game in Australia. No more neutral games please.
If the 4N is to continue after '17 (last report said it likely will) it needs to be re-worked. A 2 round home-away series is the way forward, or scrap it entirely and replace with touring series'.
A shoutout to Channel 9 for awful presentation and bland commentary, clearly I haven't missed a thing by switching them off this year.
