All Blacks Squad for France
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@pukunui yeah the Savea over one is a head scratcher.
More upside in getting Savea going than Todd in the long term and more impact off the bench in the short term.
It's a squad very much picked with the World Cup in the back of their mind, they are clearly hoping to solve the loose forward and various bench spot questions.
Todd is always going to be ready to go as a break glass in case of injury guy.
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Well I'm wondering if the RWC squad was picked today if that is the squad they'd go with.
The loosies are an interesting mix.
A bit of experiment and testing IMO.
Frizzell is a selection I like. We need another big boofer and he has potential. Think they are testing the water with him but keeping Akira close. Reckon that would be swapped if they were picking there absolute number 1 squad.
Similarly Savea and Todd. I think Savea gets the nod for linger term potential and now is the time to develop that.
Taufua ... yeah well I can see an argument for him ... but not my favourite selection. Whitelock L and Ioane A would be my preferences.
The rest? Fairly stock standard. Shame Lam misses out.
Who will replace Crotty?
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@rotated said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@pukunui yeah the Savea over one is a head scratcher.
More upside in getting Savea going than Todd in the long term and more impact off the bench in the short term.
Exactly
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Not that surprised with the Savea over Todd selection. Todd’s been in better form and I prefer his type of game in a direct comparison with Ardie’s, but we’ve seen this before that Todd will only come in if Cane is injured/unavailable. I think they see a point of difference with Ardie with his ability to cover 8, he’s a better fit for the squad.
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Yeah for sure, unlike Moody, Franks has form
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haha, the 9 year old boy next door came over to ask TR Jnr to go out riding thier bikes, but first thing he said, did you see them choosing the ABs on Sky? They didnt pick Akira!
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@bovidae said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Fox just confirmed that 32 players will be picked for the RC and EOYT as preparation for RWC 2019. So with some injured players to come back a few of this squad won't be involved later in the year.
How did Fox confirm that? Normally EOYT squads are larger, they're playing quite a few games
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@bovidae said in All Blacks Squad for France:
What I find interesting is that a player like Frizzell won't even be in the Highlanders starting XV when Squire is back.
Pretty standard these days to have guys picked for the ABs who don’t regularly start for their franchise.
Crockett
Squire (when first picked)
Romano
Aumua
Perry
ColtmanI’m sure there’s another one or two that I can’t think of right now
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@machpants the whole they were scheduled to play those other games is a loophole.
Any coach with any sense should always schedule his players in those matches for this very scenario, even if it is taking the piss.
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@booboo said in All Blacks Squad for France:
Well I'm wondering if the RWC squad was picked today if that is the squad they'd go with.
Aside from trimming a midfielder and 6/8 to get to 31, they probably drop on outside back to get the third hooker and achieve the 17/14 split from last time.
Taufua, Goodhue and NMS out?
Crockett would be called out of retirement if RWC was imminent too.
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@machpants said in All Blacks Squad for France:
How did Fox confirm that? Normally EOYT squads are larger, they're playing quite a few games
He said they will deliberately take less players than normal to use the tour as a dry run for Japan.
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@mariner4life Weak loose forwards. Cane the only top quality player.
Good thing we're only playing France, and the SANZA teams are so weak.
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@bovidae Thanks, I missed that. Gutsy move with Ireland and England at the end there. I suppose they can fly in cavalry if required for the last game vs Italy! My not-so-bold prediction, Abs will win that but it'll be a flush down the dunny performance.
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@gunner said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@bovidae said in All Blacks Squad for France:
What I find interesting is that a player like Frizzell won't even be in the Highlanders starting XV when Squire is back.
Pretty standard these days to have guys picked for the ABs who don’t regularly start for their franchise.
...
I’m sure there’s another one or two that I can’t think of right nowBrendan Leonard. Colin Slade and to a lesser extent Israel Dagg at times.
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Shannon Frizell - WTF! Seriously, even setting aside the fact he's a poach, he's the worst selection in the ABs for a long time.
Basically Akira has to move to a South Island team and do some of the mythical graft that @Machpants claims he doesn't do, despite the fact he's week in week out one of the hardest workers going un a bumbling Blues team. What graft has Frizell done in his 34 minutes per game he plays?
