AB squad for the Rugby Championship
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@Crucial said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
Remember that the usual AB plays at line out involve quick thinking and action rather than an extra two inches in height.
The best thing to do against the likes of England, Ireland and SA is to get to the line quickly and biff it in to the first organised pod while the opposition are getting organised.how easy is test rugby? It's like 3rd grade, just higher paid!
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@pukunui said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
If height is the most important attribute for a 6 then Fifita is your man. If actual skill as a rugby player is more important then Cane becomes an option.
It's not just one skill though - it's having to compromise. With Jerome (god amongst men), you got mobility, stinging defence, ball carrying and a lineout option. He's the exemplar - if you're short, you better be bloody good at the rest.
Remember the bollocks we dished out to Australia for Pooper as it weakened their lineout? Same thing - you win on the ground, but lose on the lineout.
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@nzzp said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
@pukunui said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
If height is the most important attribute for a 6 then Fifita is your man. If actual skill as a rugby player is more important then Cane becomes an option.
It's not just one skill though - it's having to compromise. With Jerome (god amongst men), you got mobility, stinging defence, ball carrying and a lineout option. He's the exemplar - if you're short, you better be bloody good at the rest.
Remember the bollocks we dished out to Australia for Pooper as it weakened their lineout? Same thing - you win on the ground, but lose on the lineout.
Pocock and Hooper are short 7s, though. Cane and Savea are tall 7s (same height as a medium-short 6 such as Jacobson etc).
I've loved our line out the last decade, but I'm ok losing 4-6 cm for a competent 6.
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@pukunui said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
If height is the most important attribute for a 6 then Fifita is your man. If actual skill as a rugby player is more important then Cane becomes an option.
I think I'm on the Hemopo at 6 bandwagon.
I guess part of the answer to your puzzle is why did Hansen specifically rule out playing Ardie and Sam at six and seven?
Tbh it won't surprise me if he has to renege on that at some point, but you know he doesn't want to, so whatever he says subsequently will be making a virtue of a necessity.
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@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
At the presser yesterday Hansen was asked again about Read at 6. He just smiled and said they had a plan for the no.6 jersey while not giving anything away. Cryptic.
SBW to 6! Should have happened years ago.
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@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
At the presser yesterday Hansen was asked again about Read at 6. He just smiled and said they had a plan for the no.6 jersey while not giving anything away. Cryptic.
Carl Hayman to make a shock return at blindside........
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Grant Fox -"This goes to the heart of a debate that people think we don't quite understand what our best loose forward combination is or where we sit with six. The answer is we do, but we're not prepared to announce that now."
"There's three areas which won't surprise anyone," Fox said of where the selectors have the most dialogue. "Loose forwards is one of them, even though we're very clear on where we're going, there's still a lot of discussion because there's a lot of depth there.
Perhaps that simply means Squire to come back.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=12254727
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@Frank said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
Perhaps that simply means Squire to come back.
oh well fuck, that changes every thing. Hallelujah, we're saved...
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@mariner4life I'm hopefully going to the Ta$man-Otago game tomorrow night and will keep an eye out for Hansen sitting in the stand.
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@Bones said in AB squad for the Rugby Championship:
It seems there's a bit too much stock/trust put in things Hansen says in pressers. How many times has he said things like Hemopo is a 6 only, Barrett is a 10 only, Cane/Savea/Read won't play together...
he absolutely just makes shit up on the fly to throw everyone off what he is actually thinking
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I’m hoping like hell , read is just going through the motions and saving himself to peak later, like Richie and dc were doing this time in 2015.
That didn’t become obvious until the WC stages when they went to another level.Hopefully some of the other older guys like bsmith likewise
Rugby World Cup 2019: All Blacks cut six players for Bledisloe Cup tests | Newshub
