NZ Form XV after round 6
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@MN5 said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
@Crucial said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
I think I read an interview where he said he would love to play in black again but his focus was on playing well for the Chiefs. Anything that came from that was a bonus.
In other words he is not going out there with impressing the AB selectors in mind.Sounds like Rugby cliches 101 to me. I bet he's taking each game as it comes too.
|t will be a season of two halves.
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@Bovidae said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
@Crucial Either Cane or Surveyor could be used as a jumper, particularly if using the locks as lifters (ala the Chiefs).
Less the jumper that would be the issue, more the lifter. You need a primary lifter for each jumper. Kaino is a big lifter, so you swap him for a smaller guy who is not as strong you might not see it in Kainos lineout stats, but you'll see it in Whitelocks or Reads.
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@Milk said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
Messam had lost his place since before the World Cup and barely made the squad though.
He's great as a "badass mother who don't take no crap off of nobody" waterboy though.
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@No-Quarter If Julian gets in trouble again Messam has his back.
I certainly wouldn't rule out Messam in the AB squad as the backup to Kaino. He would be a good shout to captain the Maori otherwise.
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@Bovidae said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
@No-Quarter If Julian gets in trouble again Messam has his back.
I certainly wouldn't rule out Messam in the AB squad as the backup to Kaino. He would be a good shout to captain the Maori otherwise.
I'm a big fan of Liam "could've been a great centre" Messam, and thought we didn't miss a beat when he started during the Kaino sabbatical, but I think his chances are very slim. I think they will continue to develop Squire and Dixon.
I do like the idea of him captaining the Maori in another famous victory against the Lions
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@ACT-Crusader said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
@Bovidae said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
@No-Quarter If Julian gets in trouble again Messam has his back.
I certainly wouldn't rule out Messam in the AB squad as the backup to Kaino. He would be a good shout to captain the Maori otherwise.
I'm a big fan of Liam "could've been a great centre" Messam, and thought we didn't miss a beat when he started during the Kaino sabbatical, but I think his chances are very slim. I think they will continue to develop Squire and Dixon.
I do like the idea of him captaining the Maori in another famous victory against the Lions
Yeah, that'd be awesome.
Because this is such a big one off series, it's not out of the realms of possibility for him to get in there... same with Cruden and TKB. If it was a normal domestic series I think they would focus more on the the future. It would take an injury to Kaino for Messam to get in there; they wouldn't take him as a back up. He'd also have to play the house down for the rest of the Super season and be head and shoulders over Dixon and Squire.
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Yeah, based on the limited opportunities Dixon got last year, he seems like a bit of a placeholder to me, in the squad until someone like Ioane, Seu or Fifita steps up. If Messam keeps playing as well as he has, I wouldn't be surprised to see him take that spot, as he's proven he's up to it if anything happens to Kaino and Hansen seems like he's a fan of him.
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@Bovidae said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
I'm not certain that Dixon makes the AB squad. He also isn't guaranteed to start for the Highlanders each week with Whitelock and Squire in the mix so might not get as many opportunities to impress.
Same could be said for SBW who hasn't played in a million years and who has Moala and Ioane in the midfield ahead of him.
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@MN5 Taking your comment seriously, the current coaching group are huge SBW fans - they confirmed they were going to bring him straight back into the ABs Rugby Championship squad last year after the Rio Olympics before injury struck.
I'm not sure SBW has ever missed an AB squad when fit and available for selection.
Of the 3 Blues midfielders you mention SBW is by far and away the most likely to be in the AB squad for the Lions series (fitness permitting).
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@KiwiMurph said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
@MN5 Taking your comment seriously, the current coaching group are huge SBW fans - they confirmed they were going to bring him straight back into the ABs Rugby Championship squad last year after the Rio Olympics before injury struck.
I'm not sure SBW has ever missed an AB squad when fit and available for selection.
Of the 3 Blues midfielders you mention SBW is by far and away the most likely to be in the AB squad for the Lions series (fitness permitting).
Yeah I know but he hasn't played rugby for over a year and isn't getting any younger. The man love they have is pretty over the top.
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@MN5 The last game he played test rugby he had arguably the best bench performance at a World Cup of any player ever. He's 31. It's been shown time and again that midfielders can play outstanding footy in their 30s (Nonu, Conrad, Bunce, JDV, BOD etc), sometimes their best. Heck two years ago Nonu had the best season of his career and he was older than SBW is now.
I'm not saying he's a shoe-in to start the tests but they'll likely need a number of midfielders in the squad.
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@KiwiMurph said in NZ Form XV after round 6:
@MN5 but comparing Elliot Dixon, a 3 test AB who hasn't shown a thing (and hasn't had much of an opportunity to) to NZ's most experienced midfielder who has shown he is world class is fine?
It's the interweb I can say what I want.
All I'm doing is pointing out that SBW leads a pretty annointed life in the eyes of AB selectors. Let's not forget he never broke up the Nonu/Smith pairing no matter how he tried.
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