AB squad for the EOYT
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It would be harsh if any of the current squad were dropped. Dixon, for example, has had limited opportunities since his only start. Many of the regular starters will be rested vs Italy so they will need enough cover in certain positions for that game.
I think Luatua deserves a recall, if that happens.
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@Bovidae said in AB squad for the EOYT:
It would be harsh if any of the current squad were dropped. Dixon, for example, has had limited opportunities since his only start. Many of the regular starters will be rested vs Italy so they will need enough cover in certain positions for that game.
I think Luatua deserves a recall, if that happens.
I havent done the maths , is there room for Todd and Luatua and retaining the other loosies ?
or does one have to go at Luatuas inclusion ?
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@kiwiinmelb I haven't either, but they may only take 5 props and use Coltman as the backup in an emergency. That would allow for an extra player.
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Heres the squad for TRC - can't think it will anyone in here will come out...
Hookers
Dane Coles (Wellington / Hurricanes, 39)
Codie Taylor (Canterbury / Crusaders, 5)
Nathan Harris (Bay of Plenty / Chiefs, 4)Props
Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury / Crusaders, 48)
Charlie Faumuina (Auckland / Blues, 36)
Owen Franks (Canterbury / Crusaders, 80)
Joe Moody (Canterbury / Crusaders, 14)
Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Auckland / Blues, 1)Locks
Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay / Chiefs, 50)
Luke Romano (Canterbury / Crusaders, 24)
Patrick Tuipulotu (Auckland / Blues, 9)
Samuel Whitelock (Canterbury / Crusaders, 75)Loose Forwards
Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty / Chiefs, 34) replaced by Matt Todd
Elliot Dixon (Southland / Highlanders, 1)
Jerome Kaino (Auckland / Blues, 69)
Kieran Read, captain (Canterbury / Crusaders, 87)
Ardie Savea (Wellington / Hurricanes, 2)
Liam Squire ( Ta$man / Highlanders, 1)Halfbacks
Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Waikato / Chiefs, 21)
TJ Perenara (Wellington / Hurricanes, 19)
Aaron Smith (Manawatu / Highlanders, 50)First five-eighths
Beauden Barrett (Taranaki / Hurricanes, 39)
Aaron Cruden (Manawatu / Chiefs, 39)
Lima Sopoaga (Southland / Highlanders, 2)Midfielders
Ryan Crotty (Canterbury / Crusaders, 18)
Malakai Fekitoa (Auckland / Highlanders, 15)
George Moala (Auckland / Blues, 2)
Anton Lienert Brown, who replaced Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau / Chiefs, 33)Outside backs
Israel Dagg (Hawke's Bay / Crusaders, 51)
Waisake Naholo (Taranaki / Highlanders, 6)
Julian Savea (Wellington/ Hurricanes, 43)
Ben Smith (Otago / Highlanders, 51)They're taking 36?
Two forwards and two backs to come in?
DMac and one of Seta Tamanivalu or Rieko Ioane? Is it possibly George Moala drops out?
Possibly they'll take a sixth prop (Kane Hames seems to be the choice?), and I think Todd stays with the team.
Squire looks to have take the step up. Could Akira Ioane come in with his brother as a look to the future selection much like Ardie previously - maybe they take him as #37 - pretty sure Hansen has the track record to tell the NZRU this is whats happening and who could argue with his player development record right now. -
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Hookers
Dane Coles (Wellington, 46)
Codie Taylor (Canterbury, 11)
Liam Coltman (Otago, uncapped)Props
Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury, 55)
Charlie Faumuina (Auckland, 42)
Owen Franks (Canterbury, 87)
Joe Moody (Canterbury, 20)
Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Auckland, 2)Locks
Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay, 57)
Luke Romano (Canterbury, 26)
Patrick Tuipulotu (Auckland, 10)
Samuel Whitelock (Canterbury, 82)Loose Forwards
Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty, 37)
Elliot Dixon (Southland, 2)
Jerome Kaino (Auckland, 74)
Steven Luatua (Auckland, 14)
Kieran Read, captain (Canterbury, 94)
Ardie Savea (Wellington, 9)
Liam Squire ( Ta$man, 6)
Matt Todd (Canterbury, 5)Backs:
Halfbacks
Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Waikato, 24)
TJ Perenara (Wellington, 26)
Aaron Smith (Manawatu, 54)First five-eighths
Beauden Barrett (Taranaki, 46)
Aaron Cruden (Manawatu, 43)
Lima Sopoaga (Southland, 5)Midfielders
Ryan Crotty (Canterbury, 24)
Malakai Fekitoa (Auckland, 20)
Anton Leinert-Brown (Waikato, 5)
George Moala (Auckland, 3)Outside backs
Israel Dagg (Hawke's Bay, 58)
Rieko Ioane (Auckland, uncapped)
Damian McKenzie (Waikato, 1)
Waisake Naholo (Taranaki, 8.)
Julian Savea (Wellington, 49)
Ben Smith (Otago, 58)Injury replacements: Scott Barrett, Vaea Fifita
Apprentice: Jordie Barrett -
@Stargazer said in AB squad for the EOYT:
Fuck yes! I've been taking the piss about Jordies inclusion - but this is excellent.
Scott's inclusions is unexpected - is Dom Bird injured as well - how far down the order has he fallen?No Tamanivalu - hope he takes it out on Ta$man this week, and then runs through the holes in the Canterbury defense where Jordie should be next week...
Coltman in for Harris. Is Harris eligible for the Maori?
Luatua in, instead of an extra prop.
Pretty easy squad to pick really wasn't it?
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Fair enough that the Barrett's are injury replacements and apprentices. I don't think they deserve to be in the full squad yet. I suppose i would have liked to see one more prop go. It's a little strange that you only pick 5 when you need 4 for each game.
I don't think Fifita has the game for the All Blacks right now but it is fair enough to get him in the environment.
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From the presser & interviews with Fox and Hansen:
Retallick is in doubt and Fifita is travelling to the States as injury cover for him if needed. Whitelock is out for 3-4 weeks and Scott Barrett comes in for him as injury cover. Hansen said explicitly about Scott that "he will play".
Fifita was picked because he could cover lock and 6.
Jordie won't play and has still a lot of "growing" to do. That was mainly meant physically. He's tall but his frame is still far from AB requirements.They decided to only take 5 props because the Maori ABs are also touring and Kane Hames will be in the Maori AB squad.
All AB halfbacks are Maori and the one that misses out of the game in the USA, is likely to play for the Maori ABs against the USA.
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From the media release:
All Blacks squad for Vista 2016 All Blacks Northern Tour
The All Blacks selectors, Steve Hansen, Ian Foster and Grant Fox, have selected their squad for the Vista 2016 All Blacks Northern Tour to the USA and Europe for Tests against Ireland, Italy and France.
The squad features the selection of 19-year-old Auckland outside back Rieko Ioane, who spent time in the All Blacks wider training group this year. It also sees the return to the All Blacks squad of his Auckland teammate, 25-year-old loose forward Steven Luatua, who played 14 Tests in 2013-2014. Otago hooker Liam Coltman, who has provided injury cover throughout the season, has also been selected in an official squad for the first time.
Meanwhile, lock Sam Whitelock suffered a high ankle sprain in last night’s record-breaking Test win over Australia and is expected to be out of rugby for a minimum of three weeks. As a result, Canterbury lock Scott Barrett has been named as an injury replacement for him and will join the touring squad. Fellow lock Brodie Retallick also took a head knock in the game. Wellington lock Vaea Fifita has been named as an injury replacement and a decision on whether he joins the squad will be made this week when Retallick undergoes concussion protocols.
Several players weren’t considered for selection due to injury, including hookers Nathan Harris and James Parsons, midfielders Sonny Bill Williams and Charlie Ngatai and outside back Nehe Milner-Skudder.
All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said: “Firstly, the selectors would like to congratulate all players selected for this Vista 2016 All Blacks Northern Tour. It’s always particularly exciting being named in a touring All Blacks squad. We welcome in Rieko who has been picked for the first time. He has shown tremendous abilities and deserves his opportunity.
“We stated at the beginning of the season that this was a year of re-establishment. We are only three quarters of the way through the season, so one of our big goals for this Tour is to continue that re-establishment,” he added.
“The Tour gives our leaders and the team the opportunity to continue to grow, in what will be different environments and against opposition that will bring a different style of game and skillsets. This will ask questions of us and, in doing so, challenge us.
“Younger players will get more experience within the All Blacks environment, and it'll allow the selectors and coaching group to keep working on blending the mixture of young talent with the more experienced players in our group. This will allow our game to continue to improve and will help ensure the team is future-proofed.
“As always, coaches, players and management will also need to continue to grow their skillsets and challenge themselves to improve their core roles.”
Steve Hansen said Northern Hemisphere tours were always enjoyable experiences for the All Blacks.
“We’re looking forward to returning to Chicago, which is a fantastic city. The two Tests against Ireland will bring a unique ‘mini-series’ element to the tour, while Italy and France are always great places to tour and will throw up their own challenges.
“It’ll be our first time back in Europe since the Rugby World Cup, so we look forward to reconnecting with people up there; and it’s also the first All Blacks tour there for a number of players, so it’s going to be a great experience on a number of levels.”
The All Blacks selectors have also announced that they are revisiting the “apprentice” scheme, which they used to great effect with Ardie Savea in 2013, with 19-year-old Jordie Barrett, the younger brother of Beauden, to tour with the All Blacks.
“We think it has huge benefits for a young player. Jordie will get all the experiences of touring and being part of the All Blacks group without the pressures of having to perform on the park. He is an outstanding prospect and has a big future in the game,” Hansen said.
The makeup of the squad, which will again be captained by number eight Kieran Read, sees 20 forwards selected (three hookers, five props, four locks and eight loose forwards) and 16 backs (three halfbacks, three first five–eighths, four midfielders and six outside backs) and has a total of 1,157 Test caps experience and an average of 32 Test caps per player.
As the Mitre 10 Cup reaches its conclusion, 11 of the provinces are represented in the All Blacks touring squad, with eight Auckland and eight Canterbury players, four from Wellington, three from Waikato, two each from Southland, Otago, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki; and one player each from Bay of Plenty and Ta$man.
Meanwhile, New Zealand Rugby has announced a naming rights sponsorship deal for the All Blacks tour, with leading American private equity firm Vista Equity Partners coming on board for what will be known as the Vista 2016 All Blacks Northern Tour.
Vista, which has offices in Austin, Chicago and San Francisco, and over $26 billion in cumulative capital commitments, currently invests in software, data and technology-based organisations led by world-class management teams with long-term perspective.
“We are delighted to partner with Vista on the All Blacks' end of year tour,” said New Zealand Rugby Chief Executive Steve Tew. “Vista is a successful and innovative company that prides itself on investing in winning teams and fostering a culture of excellence. Vista and the All Blacks both have a legacy of sustained success, and we look forward to working with them on the upcoming tour.”
“Vista is excited to partner with an organisation that shares in its commitment to excellence,” said Brian Sheth, Vista's President and Co-Founder. “Working with the All Blacks is a natural partnership for Vista, and we look forward to supporting the team on their Northern Tour.”
Mini biography – Rieko Ioane
19-year-old Rieko Ioane’s outstanding pace and strength have been on full display in his 2016 breakout season. Most recently seen in a black jersey during the Rio Olympics, Auckland-born Ioane has played for New Zealand Under 20, Auckland, the Maori All Blacks and the Blues. He starred for Auckland in this year’s Mitre 10 Cup and topped the regular season records for try-scoring (10), clean breaks, defenders beaten and metres run.
