Possible All Blacks 2020
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@sparky said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Machpants If one or two of ALB or Goodhue or Laumape get injured or need a rest then I could see Alex Nankivell get the nod. Very tidy player who will get better under Gats' tuition.
I'm unconvinced, personally. A way too go yet tho
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@sparky said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
Don't think anyone has mentioned Alex Nankivell yet. A good Super season and he couldmake the ABs squad.
Yeah really like the cut of his jib. 100% in everything he does, accurate and abrasive. A really good foil to Laumape.
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@Chris said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Duluth said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@antipodean said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
I like the ginger from North Auckland, but he's going to need to play flanker more than lock to squeeze himself into the squad.
That versatility might help him get into the squad. A genuine lock/6 is very useful for the bench. There's not many players that can do it and I think he does it better than Barrett or Fafita
Fafita of course can't be ignored because he once did well on a TSF man of the match poll versus Argentina
Fafita has some mongrel about him which I like,But the Brain fades and drifting out of games too often ruins it somewhat for me.
He does? Aside from the occasional clumsy high tackle, I've not seen anything to indicate that he has anything resembling mongrel in him
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@Machpants said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@sparky said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
Don't think anyone has mentioned Alex Nankivell yet. A good Super season and he could.make the ABs squad.
Good, but not ABs good. Esp as midfield is looking very good with capped ABs
Yeah, it's a shame for him, but we've just got too many good midfielders right now - it's made picking and sticking with the right combination very difficult
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@junior said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Chris said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Duluth said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@antipodean said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
I like the ginger from North Auckland, but he's going to need to play flanker more than lock to squeeze himself into the squad.
That versatility might help him get into the squad. A genuine lock/6 is very useful for the bench. There's not many players that can do it and I think he does it better than Barrett or Fafita
Fafita of course can't be ignored because he once did well on a TSF man of the match poll versus Argentina
Fafita has some mongrel about him which I like,But the Brain fades and drifting out of games too often ruins it somewhat for me.
He does? Aside from the occasional clumsy high tackle, I've not seen anything to indicate that he has anything resembling mongrel in him
Yeah I think he has shown signs of mongrel usually it comes out in the form of a stupid act that gets penalised or sometimes a yellow card then he disappears from the game and cruises through the rest of his time on the field.
I think he has some mongrel but it is not consistent. -
This is the possibles thread. Where’s the probables one?
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@Bones said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Machpants said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
I reckon he must've have been a total fluffybunny in training, cos they've called him in often, but don't use him.
It's gotta be some sort of issue like that, or team values/buy in.
Pretty sure it's facials.
The facials whilst playing late night video games was the final straw.
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@cgrant said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
Josh Dickson ? He has added a lot of kgs to his frame. Everybody was expecting great things from PPP but Dickson is the best Highlanders lock, and probably one of the best in NZ so far.
Well, his performance against the Crusaders has been very disappointing.
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Good performances again from Cullen Grace, David Havili and Hoskins Sotutu. Keep this up and they will be knocking on the door of the ABs squad come the end of June.
By contrast Aaron Cruden's and Josh Dickson's defence this weekend both looked a long way below international standard.
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@mariner4life said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
J Barrett is still shit. For every good thing he does, there is still something that looks park rugby to accompany it.
Hasn't stopped SBW being picked for years, to be fair....
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@Chris-B said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Chris Maybe. But, if I could change one thing in that game it would have been Sam Whitelock's push on Farrell. With more experienced and calmer heads around him - maybe Sam would have shown more composure - and we'd have had a chance to be back in the game.
Assume you're being ironic?
We lost that game because the experienced players lost it big time. In particular, Read had that wild-eyed look in his eyes he gets when things ain't going his way.
Hansen's biggest selection mistake wasn't picking inexperienced backs - it was not starting Sam Cane.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Chris-B said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
@Chris Maybe. But, if I could change one thing in that game it would have been Sam Whitelock's push on Farrell. With more experienced and calmer heads around him - maybe Sam would have shown more composure - and we'd have had a chance to be back in the game.
Assume you're being ironic?
We lost that game because the experienced players lost it big time. In particular, Read had that wild-eyed look in his eyes he gets when things ain't going his way.
Hansen's biggest selection mistake wasn't picking inexperienced backs - it was not starting Sam Cane.
Not sure if selection was some of the issue.
Reading things afterwards, it seems we didn't expect England to come so hard...how did we not?
Hansens biggest problem was his voice was stale - he had shown time & again, he couldn't get the players up & about when he needed to. -
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@sparky said in Possible All Blacks 2020:
Tom Robinson and Hoskins Sotutu looking worthy of AB call-ups.
yeah, will see if their conditioning lets them go deep into the season. It's a hard road being a pro rugby player, takes a hell of a lot of physicality
Big Karl, much though I love him, is probably moving away from the ABs a bit. His carrying and hands last night were very poor. Could cost him unfortunately, despite his scrum capabilities
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Maybe but right now, there aren't many LHP of international quality in NZ behind Moody. Moli hasn't shown he is up to it. So who else ? Hodgman looked promising against the Chiefs before his injury. He is big and strong, while his scrummaging seemed to have improved. Ross has a big workrate but his scrummaging is suspect. Johnstone is a good scrummager but his mobility is far from being top notch. Armstrong is playing better these days than he has ever done but I don't know how he is rated by Foster. Numia is promising but still too green. So, IMO, big Karl will probably be selected for the AB squad.
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@cgrant I think Ross' scrummaging is better than you say. He quite likely could have been an AB based on form before his injury which gave Karl his chance with the Chiefs and subsequently AB selection.
With a new scrummaging coach in Feek he might have different ideas to Cron on whether the likes of Tu'ungafasi and Moli are best suited as international LHs or THs. That will change the mix of the props if Ofa, especially, is considered to be primarily a TH prop. That then puts big Karl back into the conversation.
