All Blacks 2025
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DMac offers something different, some excitement at 10, which so far Razor doesn't seem to like his players having.
After year 1 with him, I don't have a lot of faith. Only time we see an exciting player is injury forced, same as Foster.
But I'll keep my fingers crossed this year might be better. -
@Darren said in All Blacks 2025:
DMac offers something different, some excitement at 10, which so far Razor doesn't seem to like his players having.
I dunno. I often get so excited when BB is at 10, I end up throwing things at the TV
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@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@Darren said in All Blacks 2025:
DMac offers something different, some excitement at 10, which so far Razor doesn't seem to like his players having.
I dunno. I often get so excited when BB is at 10, I end up throwing things at the TV
Stop. It. With. The. Fucking. Kicking!
Yes, I know it barely makes sense, but that's what's normally frothing out when beaudy kicks away possession again, with some stupid chip or attempt at kick pass.
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@Machpants said in All Blacks 2025:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@Darren said in All Blacks 2025:
DMac offers something different, some excitement at 10, which so far Razor doesn't seem to like his players having.
I dunno. I often get so excited when BB is at 10, I end up throwing things at the TV
Stop. It. With. The. Fucking. Kicking!
Yes, I know it barely makes sense, but that's what's normally frothing out when beaudy kicks away possession again, with some stupid chip or attempt at kick pass.
He is a true connoisseur of both the aimless kick and the low percentage kick. Not to mention the Sexton slow shovel it along.
It was actually a pleasant change to see him being rubbished for taking a poor option to run it back last week.
Decent fullback, crap 10. Since forever. -
@Machpants yeah the problem isn't so much the kick, it's fact it is just a kick for the the sake of it straight to a man and a poor chase...a poor kick can be made better with a great chase.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2025:
@Machpants yeah the problem isn't so much the kick, it's fact it is just a kick for the the sake of it straight to a man and a poor chase...a poor kick can be made better with a great chase.
to some pundits, all that aimless, ill-directed kicking is actually controlled test match play, and a significant improvement on "headless chicken" rugby. Which, i think, tells you all you need to know about the analytical skills of said pundits.
our kick chase is fucking lackluster though
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2025:
@Machpants said in All Blacks 2025:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@Darren said in All Blacks 2025:
DMac offers something different, some excitement at 10, which so far Razor doesn't seem to like his players having.
I dunno. I often get so excited when BB is at 10, I end up throwing things at the TV
Stop. It. With. The. Fucking. Kicking!
Yes, I know it barely makes sense, but that's what's normally frothing out when beaudy kicks away possession again, with some stupid chip or attempt at kick pass.
He is a true connoisseur of both the aimless kick and the low percentage kick. Not to mention the Sexton slow shovel it along.
It was actually a pleasant change to see him being rubbished for taking a poor option to run it back last week.
Decent fullback, crap 10. Since forever.Was he? It seems like was all deflected to Ioane who ran back to help out, secured loose ball, and dropped it while trying to pass with a defender on him. It was also his fault that the Blues scrum gave away a penalty.
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
he is inferior
Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him
Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.
And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.
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@darylmitchell said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
he is inferior
Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him
Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.
And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.
I know. All they’ve managed to do is help win a couple of world cups back to back. Hopeless
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@darylmitchell said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
he is inferior
Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him
Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.
And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.
Good analysis.
Players such as DeAllende won't have improved since then, and their team's struggles were really their fault. I'm sure that they can't have developed to be a cornerstone of a settled WC winning side, maybe even getting selected for the World Rugby dream team last year.
Similarly, we've never had a 12 who had a range of workons, played on some average teams, but somehow managed to get in the conversation as the greatest 12 we've ever had.
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@darylmitchell said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
he is inferior
Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him
Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.
And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.
Post of the year, talking about super rugby from 5 years ago in the ABs 2025 thread.
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@darylmitchell said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
he is inferior
Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him
Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.
And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.
No I think it’s just our luck with injuries this year mate. Jordie actually didn’t play to his best last year either. If you look at who was in that starting Canes backline last year we no longer have Barrett, Rayasi, Moorby and Perenara, Cameron is still injured and we’ve only just got Proctor and Higgins back. The Canes have been running with an almost B-grade backline this year so it’s always going to be tough to compete week in and week out.
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:
@darylmitchell said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
he is inferior
Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him
Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.
And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.
No I think it’s just our luck with injuries this year mate. Jordie actually didn’t play to his best last year either. If you look at who was in that starting Canes backline last year we no longer have Barrett, Rayasi, Moorby and Perenara, Cameron is still injured and we’ve only just got Proctor and Higgins back. The Canes have been running with an almost B-grade backline this year so it’s always going to be tough to compete week in and week out.
And a B grade pack during the early stages
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... and forwards the height of dwarf mondo grass ...
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2025:
@Machpants said in All Blacks 2025:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:
@Darren said in All Blacks 2025:
DMac offers something different, some excitement at 10, which so far Razor doesn't seem to like his players having.
I dunno. I often get so excited when BB is at 10, I end up throwing things at the TV
Stop. It. With. The. Fucking. Kicking!
Yes, I know it barely makes sense, but that's what's normally frothing out when beaudy kicks away possession again, with some stupid chip or attempt at kick pass.
He is a true connoisseur of both the aimless kick and the low percentage kick. Not to mention the Sexton slow shovel it along.
It was actually a pleasant change to see him being rubbished for taking a poor option to run it back last week.
Decent fullback, crap 10. Since forever.He was decent at 10 circa 2016 when he had his peak pace.
He couldnt run a game to save his life, but you also couldnt NOT play him there. The ball was just bouncing his way every time.The try he scored off first phase ball from a scrum in Dublin was ridiculous...(the one where Sexton coat hanger-ed him in the in goal area)....Freakish.
You just dont see people doing that these days.
Now the legs are gone.
It reminds me of Ronaldo and Messi.
Messi (Dan Carter) at walking pace is still one of the best players in the world. Ronaldo (Barrett) isnt.
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To not pick DMac as starting first five is plain silly.
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@darylmitchell said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:
he is inferior
Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him
Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.
And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.
Post of the year, talking about super rugby from 5 years ago in the ABs 2025 thread.
If we judged Ma'a Nonu purely on Super form he'd be a journeyman.
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:
All those combinations created over a long period of time is exactly what we are missing today.
Maybe... but I wouldn't say this All Blacks side lacks experience. I think the best All Blacks 23 in the eyes of most at the end of last year (with what is still available now) would look something like: Williams, Taylor, Lomax, S Barrett, Vaa'i, Finau, Savea, Sititi, Roigard, McKenzie, Clarke, Barrett, Ioane, Tele'a, Jordan, Taukei'aho, de Groot, Newell, Tuipulotu, Lakai, Ratima, Barrett, Lienert-Brown.
You can argue the finer point for the odd change here, but the general sentiment is most of those guys were at the 2023 RWC, and of that starting side, only a handful don't have 20 test appearances.
The argument for time in the saddle is fair for youngsters, but Samapeni Finau will be 26 when he next steps out for the All Blacks, having not yet done anything of note. You contrast that to Wallace Sititi (and to a lesser extent Peter Lakai in his two appearances), who took to it like a duck to water last year. I kind of think this just says better players do adapt.
In the absence of a better option, I wouldn't mind if they gave Finau another go, but if he doesn't perform, the coaches shouldn't take the blame - and neither should Finau. It might just be an example of some of these guys not being quite good enough.
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@frugby said in All Blacks 2025:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:
All those combinations created over a long period of time is exactly what we are missing today.
Maybe... but I wouldn't say this All Blacks side lacks experience. I think the best All Blacks 23 in the eyes of most at the end of last year (with what is still available now) would look something like: Williams, Taylor, Lomax, S Barrett, Vaa'i, Finau, Savea, Sititi, Roigard, McKenzie, Clarke, Barrett, Ioane, Tele'a, Jordan, Taukei'aho, de Groot, Newell, Tuipulotu, Lakai, Ratima, Barrett, Lienert-Brown.
You can argue the finer point for the odd change here, but the general sentiment is most of those guys were at the 2023 RWC, and of that starting side, only a handful don't have 20 test appearances.
The argument for time in the saddle is fair for youngsters, but Samapeni Finau will be 26 when he next steps out for the All Blacks, having not yet done anything of note. You contrast that to Wallace Sititi (and to a lesser extent Peter Lakai in his two appearances), who took to it like a duck to water last year. I kind of think this just says better players do adapt.
In the absence of a better option, I wouldn't mind if they gave Finau another go, but if he doesn't perform, the coaches shouldn't take the blame - and neither should Finau. It might just be an example of some of these guys not being quite good enough.
Isn't Leicester back for the test season? I'd rather see him, Tangitau & Timoci Tawatawa... than Telea & Clarke. Enough of these defensively frail wingers please.
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@darylmitchell said in All Blacks 2025:
@frugby said in All Blacks 2025:
@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2025:
All those combinations created over a long period of time is exactly what we are missing today.
Maybe... but I wouldn't say this All Blacks side lacks experience. I think the best All Blacks 23 in the eyes of most at the end of last year (with what is still available now) would look something like: Williams, Taylor, Lomax, S Barrett, Vaa'i, Finau, Savea, Sititi, Roigard, McKenzie, Clarke, Barrett, Ioane, Tele'a, Jordan, Taukei'aho, de Groot, Newell, Tuipulotu, Lakai, Ratima, Barrett, Lienert-Brown.
You can argue the finer point for the odd change here, but the general sentiment is most of those guys were at the 2023 RWC, and of that starting side, only a handful don't have 20 test appearances.
The argument for time in the saddle is fair for youngsters, but Samapeni Finau will be 26 when he next steps out for the All Blacks, having not yet done anything of note. You contrast that to Wallace Sititi (and to a lesser extent Peter Lakai in his two appearances), who took to it like a duck to water last year. I kind of think this just says better players do adapt.
In the absence of a better option, I wouldn't mind if they gave Finau another go, but if he doesn't perform, the coaches shouldn't take the blame - and neither should Finau. It might just be an example of some of these guys not being quite good enough.
Isn't Leicester back for the test season? I'd rather see him, Tangitau & Timoci Tawatawa... than Telea & Clarke. Enough of these defensively frail wingers please.
No he is not eligible until after he's played in the NPC
