2016 End-of-year internationals
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@reprobate said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
sam cane has played 37 tests pretty much as a back-up and he's 24 years old, messam 45 tests. parisse would have got a fair few caps for us i reckon - as long as he didn't fuck off overseas for the money.
o'driscoll was a much better centre than umaga, mortlock, or fleck in my eyes. fleck i can barely even remember. umaga and mortlock both very, very good players - but both more very good footy players (and leaders) than very good centres. being a whinging cock-head does't change how good he was as a player: if he had been an AB he would have fucking carved up.
how good is isa playing? he's awesome.
after reading Tanas book, I reckon. He's a bit of a whinging cock-head too
Not on the Norm Hewitt level though
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@SammyC said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@reprobate said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
sam cane has played 37 tests pretty much as a back-up and he's 24 years old, messam 45 tests. parisse would have got a fair few caps for us i reckon - as long as he didn't fuck off overseas for the money.
o'driscoll was a much better centre than umaga, mortlock, or fleck in my eyes. fleck i can barely even remember. umaga and mortlock both very, very good players - but both more very good footy players (and leaders) than very good centres. being a whinging cock-head does't change how good he was as a player: if he had been an AB he would have fucking carved up.
how good is isa playing? he's awesome.
after reading Tanas book, I reckon. He's a bit of a whinging cock-head too
Not on the Norm Hewitt level though
Come on Sammy, other All Blacks treaded carefully when talking about Mike Brewer, Norm just came out and called him a "Grade A prick" which I thought was hilarious.
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@MN5 said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@SammyC said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@reprobate said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
sam cane has played 37 tests pretty much as a back-up and he's 24 years old, messam 45 tests. parisse would have got a fair few caps for us i reckon - as long as he didn't fuck off overseas for the money.
o'driscoll was a much better centre than umaga, mortlock, or fleck in my eyes. fleck i can barely even remember. umaga and mortlock both very, very good players - but both more very good footy players (and leaders) than very good centres. being a whinging cock-head does't change how good he was as a player: if he had been an AB he would have fucking carved up.
how good is isa playing? he's awesome.
after reading Tanas book, I reckon. He's a bit of a whinging cock-head too
Not on the Norm Hewitt level though
Come on Sammy, other All Blacks treaded carefully when talking about Mike Brewer, Norm just came out and called him a "Grade A prick" which I thought was hilarious.
Hewitt is a big crybaby with a massive chip on his shoulder.
Get over it Norm, Fitzy was way better than you
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@SammyC said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@MN5 said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@SammyC said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@reprobate said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
sam cane has played 37 tests pretty much as a back-up and he's 24 years old, messam 45 tests. parisse would have got a fair few caps for us i reckon - as long as he didn't fuck off overseas for the money.
o'driscoll was a much better centre than umaga, mortlock, or fleck in my eyes. fleck i can barely even remember. umaga and mortlock both very, very good players - but both more very good footy players (and leaders) than very good centres. being a whinging cock-head does't change how good he was as a player: if he had been an AB he would have fucking carved up.
how good is isa playing? he's awesome.
after reading Tanas book, I reckon. He's a bit of a whinging cock-head too
Not on the Norm Hewitt level though
Come on Sammy, other All Blacks treaded carefully when talking about Mike Brewer, Norm just came out and called him a "Grade A prick" which I thought was hilarious.
Hewitt is a big crybaby with a massive chip on his shoulder.
Get over it Norm, Fitzy was way better than you
His bitterness and hostility made for great reading though.
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@MN5 said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@SammyC said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@MN5 said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@SammyC said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@reprobate said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
sam cane has played 37 tests pretty much as a back-up and he's 24 years old, messam 45 tests. parisse would have got a fair few caps for us i reckon - as long as he didn't fuck off overseas for the money.
o'driscoll was a much better centre than umaga, mortlock, or fleck in my eyes. fleck i can barely even remember. umaga and mortlock both very, very good players - but both more very good footy players (and leaders) than very good centres. being a whinging cock-head does't change how good he was as a player: if he had been an AB he would have fucking carved up.
how good is isa playing? he's awesome.
after reading Tanas book, I reckon. He's a bit of a whinging cock-head too
Not on the Norm Hewitt level though
Come on Sammy, other All Blacks treaded carefully when talking about Mike Brewer, Norm just came out and called him a "Grade A prick" which I thought was hilarious.
Hewitt is a big crybaby with a massive chip on his shoulder.
Get over it Norm, Fitzy was way better than you
His bitterness and hostility made for great reading though.
Haha, good summary
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@rotated said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@antipodean said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
BOD had two seasons IMO where there was no doubt he was the best centre in rugby.
For me between Mortlock, Umaga, O'Driscoll and for earlier periods during their era Robbie Fleck - none truly put themselves head and shoulders above the others. BOD certainly had the Irish and BIL hype machine behind him though.
It's one of the reasons I don't rate Umaga that highly when it comes to all-time great ABs.
Seriously? I get the point that he wouldn't be top of the list in the 13 jersey. Conrad, Bruce Robertson, Bunce easily above him when picking an all-time XV, but as an all time great AB you have to look at the whole picture not one position.
While never the best ever in any of the positions he played he was very good at all of them, he added a new dimension to the game showing the usefulness of flanker kills in the midfield (we take that for granted now but T showed the way) and was an inspiring captain arguably laying the platform that McCaw could build on. The way he used to combine with Cully was one of the highlights of AB rugby.
He is not only an AB great but an all-time NZ Rugby great and still adding to his achievements. Lifted an also ran provincial side to their first ever Shield tenure and set them up to be a Premiership regular. I wouldn't put it past him to turn the Blues around given a few seasons and would put money on him being in the AB coaching setup one day. -
@mariner4life said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@Bones well the claim has been made he would play a heap of tests (100 was mentioned) but filling in for those guys you mention won't get you many.
As Reprobate points out, Messam had 40 odd caps, Vito & Thompson 30 each, there's easily 100+ caps on the table off the bench & filling in with Kaino & Read not around / pre Read turned up.
We handed a metric shit-ton of caps to blindsides & 8's over the last 12 years to guys who weren't the long term deal, and who weren't as good as Parasie.
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That is all assuming he didn't bail for the cash on 20-40 caps, like so many of our players did, pick up an injury and replaced by someone else....
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Samoa EOY squad
*Indicates Manu Samoa debutants
Props:
- Sakaria Taulafo - Stade Francais (FRANCE)
- Census Johnston - Toulouse (FRANCE)
- Logovii Mulipola - Leicester (UK)
- Anthony Perenise - Bristol (UK)
- Nephi Leatigaga* - Samoa A (SAMOA)
- Yoshishisa Sasagi* - Hurricanes (NZ)
Hookers:
7. Maatulimanu Leiataua - Bayonne (FRANCE)
8. Wayne Ole Avei - Bordeaux (FRANCE)
9. Elia Elia - Canterbury (NZ)Locks:
10. Teofilo Paulo - Treviso (ITALY)
11. Faatiga Lemalu - Sunwolves (JAPAN)
12. Piula Faasalele - Toulouse (FRANCE)
13. Chris Vui* - North Harbour (NZ)Loose Forwards:
14. Jack Lam - Bristol (UK)
15. Alafoti Faosiliva - Worcester (UK)
16. Gregory Foe - Wellington (NZ)
17. Oneone Faafou - Samoa A (SAMOA)
18. Genesis Mamea* - Perpignan (FRANCE)Halfbacks:
19. Kahn Fotualii - Bath (UK)
20. Pelefofoga Cowley - Waikato (NZ)
21. Danny Tusitala - Samoa A (SAMOA)Flyhalf:
22. D'Angelo Leuila - Southland (NZ)
23. Patrick Faapale - Samoa A (SAMOA)Midfielders:
24. Reynold Lee-ÂLo - Cardiff Blues (WALES)
25. Paul Williams - Stade Francais (FRANCE)
26. George Pisi - Northampton Saints (UK)
27. Winston Stanley - Halequins (UK)
28. Opetera Peleseuma* - Samoa A (SAMOA)Outside Backs:
29. David Lemi - Bristol (UK)
30. Ken Pisi - Northampton (UK)
31. Ahsee Tuala - Northampton (UK)
32. Paul Perez - Toulouse (FRANCE)
33. Albert Nikoro - Western Force (AUSTRALIA)Players unavailable due to injury:
⢠Paul AloÂâEmile (Stade Francais, FRANCE)
⢠Sam Aiono (Counties, NZ)
⢠Motu Matuu (Gloucester, UK)
⢠TJ Ioane (Sale, UK)
⢠Vavae Tuilagi (Carcassonne, FRANCE)
⢠Tusi Pisi (Bristol, UK)
⢠Alapati Leiua (Wasps, UK)
⢠Faatoina Autagavaia (Nevers, FRANCE)Players declaring their unavailability:
⢠Tim Nanai-âWilliams (Ricoh, JAPAN)
⢠Faifili Levave (Mitsubishi, JAPAN) -
That squad would look much better with those injured players in it.
I wondered what had happened to Genesis Mamea. Thought he looked quite promising when teamed with Ardie at the Lions. I guess non selection for the Canes had him look overseas. (I blame Hammett) -
Does anyone know about coverage of the All Blacks games in Australia ?
Are foxtel doing the lot ?
Ive had a bit of a google but cant find any info yet ?
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@kiwiinmelb now that beIN is free we should get every game. Schedule always comes out late though
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The Barbarians squad for their three November games v South Africa, Czech Republic and Fiji is gradually taking shape, with several player announcements now having been made and more to follow:
Head Coach: Robbie Deans
Ass Coach: Will Greenwood
Andy Ellis (New Zealand)
Taqele Naiyaravo (Australia)
Wycliff Palu (Australia)
Will Skelton (Australia)
Matt Faddes (uncapped)
Michael Fatialofa (uncapped)
Reggie Goodes (uncapped)
Richie Mo'unga (uncapped)
Brad Shields (uncapped)
Jordan Taufua (uncapped)
Luke Whitelock (New Zealand)
v Fiji (Belfast)
Ruan Pienaar (South Africa)
Dan Tuohy (Ireland)
http://www.barbarianfc.co.uk/news/ulster-s-pienaar-and-tuohy-join-barbarians-for-kingspan-date/ -
So basically, the Kiwis in that Barbarians squad are handy 'reserves' for the All Blacks. It wouldn't be the first time that players from the Barbarians were called in as injury replacement by the ABs during the EOYT. Wonder whether Deans has had any contact with Hansen and co about these selections?
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@Stargazer said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
Wonder whether Deans has had any contact with Hansen and co about these selections?
I doubt it considering Deans and Hansen can't stand the sight of each other
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@JayCee said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
@Stargazer said in 2016 End-of-year internationals:
Wonder whether Deans has had any contact with Hansen and co about these selections?
I doubt it considering Deans and Hansen can't stand the sight of each other
Maybe Robbie and Wayne have had a chat about it....
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@ACT-Crusader Stop being a pikey and get yourself an Avatar, would ya?