AB squad for the Rugby Championship
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@cgrant said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@Yeahtheboys said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@Kirwan the best 6 in the world (O’Mahoney) is 6’3 and 107 kg exact same as Jacobson
I tend to think that the best six is Josh Navidi, with Matera bubbling under.
Navidi is 6'1 so even smaller than Jacobson and O'Mahoney. Modern blindside flankers need a super-high workrate.
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I tend to think crotty has just been really unlucky injury wise with test footy, as stated by others his super rugby record is good. Also at least when he plays he's been good, not like sbw. I just don't see how you can carry a guy who gets penalised every game, who turns the ball over multiple times a game, who is frequently injured - unless he is absolutely brilliant - and I haven't seen much brilliance for a long time now. Imagine if #s 1 to 23 all made a similar number of errors to sbw per game: every single game would be even more disjointed than the last 2 piles of shit we've been subjected to.
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@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
Fuck Luatua would be pretty handy right now
Fucken right he would. Mismanaged badly, and what did we get for it? A few caps for Luke whitelock to then be discarded?
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@reprobate said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
Fuck Luatua would be pretty handy right now
Fucken right he would. Mismanaged badly, and what did we get for it? A few caps for Luke whitelock to then be discarded?
Not just Luatua, but Piutau would go nicely on the other wing too. Free BFA to play fullback
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Why can't Cane play on the Blind, Ardie at open and Read at 8?
For me Ardie has to start. He can play 80 at the highest intensity and then you have Cane breaking people in two in the tackle as well.
Read can swing the ole zimmerframe and knock a few down too.
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@nzzp we had our best fullback playing fullback last weekend though. Isn’t that a good a thing?
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@Hooroo said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
Why can't Cane play on the Blind, Ardie at open and Read at 8?
I think this is going to be our top trio, and everywhere but at the lineout it works. Unfortunately in teh lineout you wind up with 2 locks + Read, and then a 'half' option of Savea. Not idea, and it's a compromise, but probably better than Fifita.
Scott Barrett on the bench covering 4-6, and another loosie for impact (take yuor pick).
I have concerns about Jacobsen as a starter, as I think he may be running on fumes at the end of the year. It's a big physical demand on a new professional ... hopefully he's there for experience (in RWC year!)
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@Hooroo said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
Why can't Cane play on the Blind, Ardie at open and Read at 8?
cos Steve said so, thats why!
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@ACT-Crusader said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@nzzp we had our best fullback playing fullback last weekend though. Isn’t that a good a thing?
Not really, as our best fullback is also our best ten (IMO by quite a distance). Ten is more important that 15, so it weakens the team.
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@Kirwan said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@ACT-Crusader said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@nzzp we had our best fullback playing fullback last weekend though. Isn’t that a good a thing?
Not really, as our best fullback is also our best ten (IMO by quite a distance). Ten is more important that 15, so it weakens the team.
Our second best fullback is also playing on the wing which weakens the team further.
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@Hooroo said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
Why can't Cane play on the Blind, Ardie at open and Read at 8?
For me Ardie has to start. He can play 80 at the highest intensity and then you have Cane breaking people in two in the tackle as well.
Read can swing the ole zimmerframe and knock a few down too.
Hanson probably has nightmares about when the lineout was a huge weakness for us, so anything that weakens that is vetoed. So we lose strength in defence, rucks, link play, everything else to keep an extra lineout option with a waste of time like Fifita. Or a flat track bully like Squire.
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Whitelock and Read have always been the main targets in the lineout, followed by Retallick, so having a tall no.6 is not always a necessity. Often the blindside is used as a jumper at the front where explosive jumping is more important.
It's not like we have Blackadder at lock anymore.
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@nzzp said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
I have concerns about Jacobsen as a starter, as I think he may be running on fumes at the end of the year. It's a big physical demand on a new professional ... hopefully he's there for experience (in RWC year!)
Jacobson (to spell his name correctly) is there on merit and is a consideration for the RWC squad. He isn't an apprentice.
Pleased with the way that the coaching team have managed his workload and added value so far. I think he could be NZ's answer to O'Mahoney and Navidi.
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@Bovidae we may have barrett though depending on brodies fitness so its not like for like in height
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@DaGrubster said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@Bovidae we may have barrett though depending on brodies fitness so its not like for like in height
Yes, but the Crusaders often had Taufua at 6, who is shorter than both Cane and Savea. So their options were Whitelock, Read and Barrett.
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@Bovidae The Crusaders often used Taufua successfully in the line-out though, despite being shorter than Whitelock, Read and Barrett. Height clearly isn't always a determining factor. Also, during the 2019 season, Douglas started more games than Taufua and is taller.
