2025 All Blacks v France series
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@KiwiMurph said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.
Sure, but he's is not that small
I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc
A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.
Doesn't use his feet close to contact, tucks the ball under one arm and also ducks his head so he doesn't even look up/around. I really can't understand why it hasn't been fixed.
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@KiwiMurph said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.
Sure, but he's is not that small
I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc
A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.
He's quite tall but not exactly built like a tackle buster.
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@Bones said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@KiwiMurph said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.
Sure, but he's is not that small
I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc
A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.
Doesn't use his feet close to contact, tucks the ball under one arm and also ducks his head so he doesn't even look up/around. I really can't understand why it hasn't been fixed.
I noticed when he first started playing midfield at the higher level , he instinctively used to try and use his pace to find space to run at , whether it was coached out of him out of fear of being isolated? , now he seems more content to run into contact
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Maybe part of the modern game? Now that most outside backs are good at winning breakdown steals the wider you play the greater the risk of turning over the ball.
Jessie Kriel didn't pass once in the RWC Final.
I think Rieko to a degree lost some of his mojo and is a bit too comfortable.
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@MN5 said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@KiwiMurph said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Duluth said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@antipodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Blackadder could benefit from adding more muscle and strength to his frame. With his undoubted engine, that would enable him to have more impact in the collision.
Sure, but he's is not that small
I think it's something else. Coaches of his and EB himself have joked about how unco he is. Too often he gets himself into weak positions going into contact and crumbles/bounces off etc
A lot of this you could actually apply to Rieko as well - he is a more than willing ball carrier but for a big man he goes to ground after initial contact a hell of a lot. Especially since his breakout first couple of years - my sense is that coaches have worked out where to target him as a ball carrier.
He's quite tall but not exactly built like a tackle buster.
He looks taller and heavier than Ardie Savea who is a great tackle buster.
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@brodean said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
He looks taller and heavier than Ardie Savea who is a great tackle buster.
I think Ardie has a stockier core and legs. Regardless, Ioane could burst more tackles (may be a key criterion for AB coaches)...
I agree Ardie is shorter than Rieko. I went through some AB etc photos, I also don't think, despite the stats, that Dalton is much taller if at all than LJ. -
@Kirwan said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Well that was a methodic dismantling of the Blackadder myth. Confirmed beyond all doubt the "busy but ineffective" label.
As a ball carrier, sure. He's almost McCaw-like in his lack of metres and evasiveness.
Is a ball carrier what we need to accompany and balance Sititi and Savea? -
@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Kirwan said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Well that was a methodic dismantling of the Blackadder myth. Confirmed beyond all doubt the "busy but ineffective" label.
As a ball carrier, sure. He's almost McCaw-like in his lack of metres and evasiveness.
Is a ball carrier what we need to accompany and balance Sititi and Savea?I'd accept his lack of carrying ability if he was a bone crunching tackler and smashed rucks like a madman
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Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
No, more a case of folk expressing concern at his limitations as a player
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
Hands up if you've joined the pile-on
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Fk me, how many times can people talk about Blackadder on this forum? 😂
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
Interesting response to statistics
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Hearing from a source that Naitoa Ah Kuoi has been bought into the All Black squad , i have no reason to doubt this info and i stand to be corrected but if it is correct i would be keen to know who he is replacing
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
No.
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@reprobate said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
@Kirwan said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Well that was a methodic dismantling of the Blackadder myth. Confirmed beyond all doubt the "busy but ineffective" label.
As a ball carrier, sure. He's almost McCaw-like in his lack of metres and evasiveness.
Is a ball carrier what we need to accompany and balance Sititi and Savea?I don't care if he's a ball carrier, I want his ruck clear outs and tackles to be effective.
Who cares if he makes 15 tackles if he's escorting guys over the try line? Espcially at six, you need stoppers there. Obviously Kaino and Collins used to cut people in half, but I could mention another six that tackled harder than Ethan.
Reminds me when I started work on a helpdesk, I had awesome call stats because I took all the easy items off the queue. Not actually that useful but looks great on paper.
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Geez, it is just a circle-jerk of butt-hurt provincial bias against Blackadder, isn't it?
It's the opposite really. If he played for the Highlanders he would be nowhere near the All Backs. Not the first or the last to be selected purely on club mana opposed to individual ability.
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@Canes4life said in 2025 All Blacks v France series:
Fk me, how many times can people talk about Blackadder on this forum? 😂
That's what happens when there's a perception that someone is getting an easy ride without justification
