All Blacks Squad for France
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Starting to look a bit like 2008 here with injuries and some rather underwhelming players in black. Been a long while since we were ordinary, maybe it'll just have to be this year.
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Then there was Retallick, who didn't return after halftime due to what Cooper was able to confirm was a pectoral injury. The Crusaders' issues came a couple of days out from the match, but only surfaced publicly an hour before kickoff when their team was revealed, with Taufua and Goodhue now in doubt for potential test debuts. Coach Scott Robertson confirmed Taufua's issue was the calf one he had been carrying. "It's the same one obviously from the week earlier, which is a real shame for him. So we just hope he's in a race for those test matches, to be available." Goodhue's is a hamstring, with Robertson explaining it tightened up right at the end of their main training on Thursday.The players will head into All Blacks camp on Monday and be assessed by their medical staff, with the only bits of positive news being that the knocks that Karl Tu'inukuafe and Richie Mo'unga picked up were both just cramp.
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so whats our team looking like now...
Crusaders front row (when not suspended or injured)
Crusaders locks
Squire (if not suspended) Whitelock, L, Cane (Todd)
Smith, BB
Crotty, ALB
Ioane, Smith, Naholo
Harris, Ofa, Romano, Fifita, Ardie, TJP, Mounga, Jordie -
@taniwharugby you are missing a prop on the bench. Swap Fifita out for a prop and DMac comes in for Mounga (id pick Mounga).
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@kiwimurph ah I had a question mark in there for 2nd prop and reserve lock before remembering Romano and deleted both question marks.
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With this mounting injury crisis, this series has become probably the most interesting to watch after summarily being shoved into the predictable outcome category. Even as an All Black fan.
No BBBR and Sam Whitelock for the first test. No SBW. No Read. Probably no Cane, no Crotty. Time for this famous depth to turn up because the drop off from our two locks to anyone else is like peering into an abyss.
And a backrow of Ardie, Liam and Luke doesn't imbue me with confidence.
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@antipodean Ardie wont start if Cane is out, surely they'll bring Todd in to start.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@antipodean Ardie wont start if Cane is out, surely they'll bring Todd in to start.
I don't understand the selector's thought process here. Second best openside, don't include him in squad. But if Cane's injured, bring him in and start him. Why not just have him in the squad at the expense of the guy you can't trust to start? What if, touch wood, Cane got injured in the first five minutes..?
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@antipodean I think they think that Ardie offers more utility value on the bench.
Neither he nor Todd are going to start if Cane is fit, so pick the guy you're more likely to want on the bench - especially when the other guy is just a phone call away.
Our test forward pack is starting to look pretty shaky. Good chance we'll have neither of our gun locks and neither of our gun loosies and our two starting props are going to be undercooked.
If neither Retallick nor Whitelock is available, they'll presumably call in Romano - but, who else? Or will they have Fifita covering lock? They will still presumably need another specialist lock in case someone goes down in the warm up.
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last time we played a loosie who can play lock it broke a record...
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
last time we played a loosie who can play lock it broke a record...
More like a loosie who they played at lock.
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@magpie_in_aus said in All Blacks Squad for France:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
last time we played a loosie who can play lock it broke a record...
More like a loosie who they played at lock.
yeah thats what I meant, last time they played a loosie who can fill in at lock play at lock...given mostly they fill in in the last 20.
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Reminds me of a time they played a fullback at center....
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@magpie_in_aus so last century! (I forgot the other times)
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Squad for France:
last time we played a loosie who can play lock it broke a record...
At least they won't spend the week partying up, and not taking it seriously, because it's a new location and the local team just won the World Series...
...apart from Jordie, obviously!
