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The All Blacks earned their victory in Dublin and fair play to Ireland, they came out full of confidence and took their game to a whole new level. Womens Indonesia Jerseys . Irish teams have reached a breaking point in the past, but this current crop never give up.I think the likes of Jamie Heaslip, Sean OBrien, young Josh van der Flier, and even their two props, really took it to the All Blacks.In what was a bruising encounter, the first three minutes were what stood out for me. The intent that the All Blacks came out with was really good to see. They just absolutely looked like they were going to wipe Ireland from the park, and it was good to get that little bit of a buffer. But then Ireland came back at them, and thats the sign of a team who took a blow but never gave up.The All Blacks have now got a foe to look forward to in their next encounter whenever that comes about.The starting game has been an issue for the All Blacks, particularly in Chicago where Ireland jumped out to a healthy lead. In most matches everyone invariably waits for someone to do something brilliant, but I think the All Blacks mindset in Dublin was that no-one was going to wait for anyone else; there were 15 guys going out there and saying, Im going to be the one who makes the difference right from the outset.That attitude comes through reflection, and much of that stems from what happening in Chicago. The All Blacks will have been suffering internally and waiting for that moment when the first whistle went, and from there they just unleashed it and made a statement in the first three minutes.The physicality of both sides was huge. Ireland, to their credit, retained the ball fairly well; they didnt cough it up nor make many mistakes and were able to hang onto the ball for long phases which required the All Blacks to make nearly three times as many tackles as the Irish.Sitting and watching it, I thought it was a fantastic Test match. It truly was a test in the sense of the words Test match. Too many games these days are one-sided, but that certainly wasnt the case on this occasion.At the end of it there were the usual gripes, grizzles and moans, people crying foul which took away from what the game actually was - a great spectacle.It was interesting to compare the Irish reaction with that of the All Blacks in Chicago. Crying foul is wrong. At the end of the day the scoreboard says what the score was. You can whinge and moan all you like.In saying that, the All Blacks discipline is something that does need to be looked at. They need to put their hands up and say, hey, we gave away far too many penalties. Some of those penalties were 100 percent right. They push the boundaries, but when they get under pressure the All Blacks have a mindset that they would much rather give a penalty away than concede a try.As for Sam Canes tackle, well it was certainly physical and maybe he misjudged it slightly. But it wasnt intentional. He had no intent to go and make contact with the head or hit that early -- he basically rolled into him. So it was sort of a difficult one whereas Malakai Fekitoas tackle was clumsy.Again, it was borne out of desperation as the All Blacks were stretched and he had to make that tackle. But he went too high. He knew it as soon as hed done it. But again, it wasnt his intention for that to happen. The All Blacks need to look at their discipline though, they need to tidy up that part of their game.I loved what Steve Hansen came out and said, and it was the same from Tony Johnson in commentary, that Beauden Barretts try was a penalty try. Ireland fly-half Jonathon Sexton went right round the neck and didnt want to let go.The TMO was looking at the grounding, and it should have been the same with the tackle. Sexton put his arms right round Barretts neck and that should have been not only a penalty try, but a penalty back at halfway, and possibly a yellow card as well.It was mind-boggling for me that youve got a referee, a TMO and two touch judges more worried about the grounding than the head high tackle. Clearly, Sexton was trying to stop a try being scored just, as Ive explained earlier, the All Blacks were trying to do in their infringements. But it just shows that it is part and parcel of the game of rugby.Barrett was absolutely superb: his pace is outstanding. Hes turning into a superstar. If he keeps going the way hes going, and he is World Rugbys player of the year, hes destined to have one of the all-time great careers. And hes still a young man with plenty of time left in the game.Now theres just France left to face, a banana skin that everyone wants to avoid. The last game of the season is always a tough one for the All Blacks. Theyve had their casualties with Sam Cane and Ben Smith both ruled out; but as we have said many times, it gives others an opportunity.France in Paris is going to be a tough ask and I cant help but think of what Sean Fitzpatrick used to say about the last game of the season being the one you want to win. You dont want to have that niggling feeling of a final defeat when you are lying on a beach somewhere in the offseason.It has been a fantastic year for the All Blacks, but this is still a defining moment for their year. Theres been one hiccup and you wouldnt want another in order to be able to put a line under 2016 and say that was a great year.Thats not to forget that the French have plenty of ammunition themselves after their quarterfinal humiliation in last years Rugby World Cup. Its a mental battle more than anything this weekend. You cant get any fitter, you cant get any stronger and Gilbert Enoka and the coaches have got to get the guys heads in the right places.People who havent been there wont understand, but touring does take it out of you and it is only natural to be looking forward to a holiday when you havent had one for a long time.Selection is going to be interesting in this one. You cant avoid TJ Perenara the way he is playing at the moment. Hes absolutely on top of his game, his form is the best it has ever been and you would expect the selectors to do what their job is and select the best player to wear the black jersey, or its new equivalent for away games, for any given Test match.What more does a guy have to do to get a starting position? Indonesia Jerseys From China . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Authentic Soccer Indonesia Jerseys . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. http://www.cheapindonesiajerseys.com/ . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. RIO DE JANEIRO -- They teamed up for a carpool karaoke video. They planted their flag in Brazil. And when the Olympics are done, theyll be remembered as the latest in a long line of U.S. swimming powerhouses.So much for all those dire forecasts.Turns out, the less-than-glittering times at the U.S. trials were no indication of how fast they would swim once they got to the big stage. And all those who thought they were too inexperienced to shine on the international stage totally missed the mark.The Americans went into the final night at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium with a shot at their biggest medal haul in the last three decades.No matter what, Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky & Co. made sure the U.S. stayed firmly atop the swimming world.We all know were part of a really special team, Ledecky said Saturday, five medals hanging from her neck after one of the greatest performances in Olympic history. We have such great depth in the U.S. in swimming, and its something we take great pride in. This is kind of our stage to show the world that.With four events still to come in the final late-night session, the Americans already had 14 golds -- their most since the Sydney Games -- and 29 medals overall. They were just one off their total from four years ago in London and eying the 33 medals put up by the team that dominated Down Under in 2000.Phelps, of course, was among those leading the way. In what he again insists will be his final Olympics, the 31-year-old piled up four golds before settling for silver in a stunning upset by Singapores Joseph Schooling in the 100-meter butterfly. The 4x100 medley relay was still to come.But no one was more dominant than the 19-year-old Ledecky, whose four golds included two world record-shattering performances. She joined Amy Van Dyken and Missy Franklin as the only American women to capture as many as four golds in a single games, matched Debbie Meyer as the only females to sweep the 200, 400 and 800 free, and also won silver anchoring the 4x100 free relay.What shes doing in the sport is ridiculous, Phelps said.Theres something to be said for the camaraderie displayed by the American team.During their final training session in Atlanta, a host of swimmers -- Phelps and Ryan Lochte among them -- took to the streets to record a James Cordin-style carpool karaoke video . Even Ledecky took a turn behind the wheel, even though she still has just a learners permit.I was only at a gas station, she quipped, so I didnt think I was going to hurt anyone.When the swimmers got tto Brazil, they received a history lesson from one of the coaches, Greg Meehan. Wholesale Indonesia Jerseys. . At a meeting with the female athletes on the eve of the games, he told them about the Homestead Act, the 1862 law that encouraged Americas westward migration by providing free land to settlers.Well let Ledecky take it from there.We each had American flags and they printed out each of the events, and the people that were competing in each of those events came forward, had a little moment together, took the flag and stuck it through the paper and into the grass in the Olympic village, she said. We were just kind of staking our claim in Rio, and I think we kind of did that in the pool as well.In addition to Phelps and Ledecky, the biggest U.S. stars were Maya DiRado, who turned in the ultimate one-and-done with two golds and four medals overall; Ryan Murphy, who extended U.S. mens dominance of the backstroke; Simone Manuel, the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in the 100 free; Lilly King, who backed up her brash diatribe against doping; and Anthony Ervin, the oldest member of the team at 35 and a gold medalist again in the 50 free -- 16 years after he first won the event in Sydney.Even with a hugely disappointing performance by Franklin, who didnt even make it to the final of her two individual events, the Americans still blew everyone away.There are several factors that go into the success of the U.S. program, starting with some simple numbers. The Americans have far more swimmers and resources to draw from than most nations, so its only natural they would dominate.Beyond that, Ledecky pointed to a U.S. trials format that sets up the team to perform well at the Olympics. Over eight nights in Omaha, just a month before the games and following the same schedule of events, swimmers earned their way onto the team before sellout crowds of more than 14,000 at every session.That was bigger than the crowds in Rio, where there were plenty of empty seats each night.Its an overly easy environment for us to swim fast in because weve been through our Olympic trials, which is way more pressure-filled than the Olympics, Ledecky said. Obviously the crowd here hasnt been that intimidating to us.Nothing was too intimidating to the Americans.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . 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  • Created: Dec 19 '17
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