Friday night rugby match thread: 8pm BST. The All Blacks vs the Azzuri

https://lemmy.world/post/5952881

Friday night rugby match thread: 8pm BST. The All Blacks vs the Azzuri - Lemmy.world

Black on Blue tonight, with a fairly forgone conclusion, but will Italy put up a fight or give a HT scare? Find out later!

On the NZ coverage Shag made the point that there were no cards in this game, and I have to say that is bloody refreshing. Probably because the collision zone was so dominated by one team rather than being a real battle. But still a positive for rugby no matter the cause I think.
None in Ire vs SA last week either
huzzah! I think all the teams are working hard on tackling height and everything, so really it must come down to a bit of luck, get the timing just a little bit wrong and its bad news.
Cards will decide knock outs for sure, so discipline really important to work on for now too
Penalties too I think; defensive breakdown is so well rewarded that players might need to go against instinct and let the ball go if they’re caught isolated. The mantra for any team needs to be no easy metres, make them earn it not be given it by letting the referee ping you.