2017 Bledisloe Cup & Rugby Championship (4 Nations)
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@African-Monkey like North Harbour
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@taniwharugby Yep, as long as it isn't Auckland or Northland he should be sweet......
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@Tim The Actual quotes from Hansen:
"With Matt Todd getting injured it created a thought process of 'gee whizz, who is next?'," Hansen said. "It came down to Blake and the two Otago boys Lentjies and Hunt, and we just felt let's have a look at Blake this week and get some better information on him. You can watch as many games as you like but having him in your training environment is good and in the next wee while we'll probably have a look at the other two as well.
"[Blake] is good over the ball - he's a strong, physical player, his history in the game is pretty good. He's a New Zealand under-20 player with a lot of talent and has done a good job, although he's copped a few injuries, with the Blues and Auckland."
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Steve Hansen has hinted that flying winger Nehe Milner-Skudder could be returning to the All Blacks immediately.
Milner-Skudder, 26, hasn't featured for the All Blacks since the 2015 World Cup final, with a shoulder injury ruling him out of nearly all of 2016, before an ankle injury kept him on the sidelines during the British and Irish Lions series earlier this year. Hansen though, says that the livewire could be back in the black jersey in the near future. "He's excited and itching for a game," Hansen said. "When we think he's ready, that'll happen."The title is misleading:
Next question journalist: "Are you implying that you don't think he's ready at the moment?"
Hansen: "No, I'm just saying 'when he is ready, we'll play him. He has been out of the environment for a wee while, we had some guys playing really well - Rieko has been on fire, Daggy until we went on a break was on fire, so we just see how things go."
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All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen threw the names of Tim Perry, Pauliasi Manu and the injured Mitchell Graham up as players who could potentially join the squad as training cover, but not with huge conviction.
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@Tim said in 2017 Bledisloe Cup & Rugby Championship (4 Nations):
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen threw the names of Tim Perry, Pauliasi Manu and the injured Mitchell Graham up as players who could potentially join the squad as training cover, but not with huge conviction.
Would have to be Manu surely. He may not have the complete skill set they desire but would hold his own in the scrums easily.
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Geez. This year we're really getting our depth tested in almost exactly those positions I had concerns over heading towards 2019.
Hooker, both props, blindside, fullback.
I'm looking at this from a glass half full perspective. While also at times regretting not seeing players as awesome as Coles and Bender not on the field.
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The All Blacks need their Props to be incredibly mobile and not "saving" themselves for scrum time only. The LH Props that suit this style of game are Alex Hodgman and Chris Eves. Tim Perry can only last 30 minutes before he is blowing and Manu needs to sort out his fitness. Mitchell Graham is not mobile at all.
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Boks have blueprint to beat ABs, but not Aussie it seems
The way we are playing, Aus & Argies almost had that same blueprint, so I don't think it is far fetched to believe the Boks don't believe they cant finish the job the Argies & Aussies couldn't...whether they can is another matter entirely.
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@taniwharugby the Boks play quite a different style to ABs, Wallabies and Pumas. They don't nearly pass the ball as much as the other three teams, whereas we and the others want to spread it which if not executed well is prone to errors and turnovers.
Boks play more compact using their forwards and midfielders for most of the ball running.
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It really is a shame about Moody. He's become an important ball runner for us this year. He's got a high skill level and has turned the corner from last years high penalty rate. He's a much improved scrummager and now like Franks is very aggressive in the tackle.
Big test to have both our frontline starting props out going into a home test vs the Boks.
Crockett is a worthy replacement and Laulala is settling in nicely (so far).
No matter who's on the bench this weekend, there's going to be a few nervous moments for AB fans when Hansen calls them in.
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@ACT-Crusader Yep, not looking forward to the usual Hames penalties.
